Partamona mulata is a stingless bee species endemic to cerrado, a severely threatened phytogeographical domain. Clearing for pasture without proper soil treatment in the cerrado facilitates the proliferation of termite ground nests, which are the nesting sites for P. mulata. The genetic consequences of these changes in the cerrado environment for bee populations are still understudied. In this work, we analyzed the genetic diversity of 48 colonies of P. mulata collected throughout the species' distribution range by sequencing two mitochondrial genes, cytochrome oxidase I and cytochrome B. A very low polymorphism rate was observed when compared to another Partamona species from the Atlantic forest. Exclusive haplotypes were observed in two of the five areas sampled. The sharing of two haplotypes between collection sites separated by a distance greater than the flight range of queens indicates an ancient distribution for these haplotypes. The low haplotype and nucleotide diversity observed here suggests that P. mulata is either a young species or one that has been through population bottlenecks. Locally predominant and exclusive haplotypes (H2 and H4) may have been derived from local remnants through cerrado deforestation and the expansion of a few colonies with abundant nesting sites.

As abelhas possuem grande importância econômica e ecológica, em vista de sua dependência dos recursos florais como o pólen e o néctar (principais fontes de proteínas e energia, respectivamente), representando cerca de 40 a 90% dos agentes polinizadores de fanerógamas em diversos ecossistemas. No presente trabalho, foi realizado o inventário apícola do Parque Municipal da Cachoeirinha (Iporá, GO). Foram realizadas 58 horas de coleta no total, realizadas nos meses de novembro/dezembro de 2004 e março e maio de 2005. Foi coletado um total de 933 indivíduos, distribuídos em uma família, 16 tribos, 33 gêneros e 62 espécies. A tribo Meliponini foi a mais abundante em número de indivíduos e espécies. As espécies mais abundantes foram Trigona chanchamayoensis (16,51%), Tetragona clavipes (14,79%) e Apis mellifera e Trigona recursa (12,33%). Este trabalho apresenta a primeira ocorrência no estado de Goiás para seis gêneros e 12 espécies.

Bees are dependent on flower nectar and pollen (main sources of protein and energy, respectively) and have an important economic and ecological role as pollinators, representing about 40 to 90% of phanerogams pollinators in several ecosystems. This work presents a description of bee species from Parque Municipal da Cachoeirinha in Iporá, Goiás state, Brazil. A total of 58 hours of capturing were performed on November and December 2004 and on March and May 2005. A total of 933 individuals were collected, distributed in one family, 16 tribes, 33 genera, and 62 species. Meliponini tribe presented the highest number of individuals and species. Most abundant species were Trigona chanchamayoensis (16.51%), Tetragona clavipes (14.79%) and Apis mellifera and Trigona recursa (12.33%). This work presents the first occurrence in Goiás state for six genera and 12 species.

The genus Trigona contains at least 31 species, but there have been few cytogenetic studies of this group. In this work, four species of Trigona (T. branneri, T. chanchamayoensis, T. hyalinata, and T. recursa) from the municipality of Cuiabá, in the State of Mato Grosso, Brazil, were studied. In all of the species, the females had 2n = 34 chromosomes and the males had n = 17. The C-banding patterns showed that the karyotypes of these species consisted mainly of acrocentric and pseudoacrocentric chromosomes. These cytogenetic findings should useful in future phylogenetic studies of this group.

The stingless bees of the Partamona genus have been studied taxonomically, ecologically and behaviourally, but cytogenetic studies are still rare. The objective of this study was to obtain cytogenetic data to contribute to Partamona peckolti species characterization. Heterochromatin was localized in all chromosome pericentromeric regions but some blocks could be visualized on some large chromosomes arms. A large heterozygous DA-CMA3-positive band was observed on one large chromosome arm, but was completely absent when C banding was applied before fluorochrome staining, with only one small positive band being visualized. Sequential DA-CMA3-NOR staining of interphase nuclei provided coincident positive responses. This suggests that DA-CMA3-positive bands of P. peckolti correspond to nucleolar organizer regions, as previously confirmed for another Partamona species by FISH.