Nosocomial infections bring a high risk to the health of hospital patients and employees. Ants are common organisms in Brazilian hospitals, where they can act as dispersers of opportunistic microorganisms in places they forage. The occurrence of multi-resistant bacteria carried by ants was analyzed in two public hospitals (HA and HB) in southeastern Bahia, Brazil. In these two hospitals 132 workers belonging to three ant species were collected. The bacteria associated to these ants were identified and their susceptibility to antibiotics was evaluated. More than half (57.3%) of ants collected in HA were associated with some kind of bacteria, with 26.7% of them being opportunist bacteria, while 84,2% of the ants from HB presented associated bacteria growth, with 61.4% of them being opportunist bacteria. Twenty four species of bacteria were isolated. The Gram-positive bacilli of the genus Bacillus were the most frequent, followed by the Gram-positive cocci, Gram-negative bacilli (family Enterobacteriaceae) and Gram-negative non-fermenters bacilli. The profile of sensitivity of the bacterial isolates to drugs pointed out the existence of multi-resistant isolates carried by ants. For the first time, are reported cases of the same bacterial resistant isolates taken form homospecific ant workers that point out the importance of ants to bacteria dissemination and proliferation in a hospital. Our results suggest that the risk of contamination presented by these ants is similar to the one of any other mechanical vector of bacterial dissemination.

Wasmannia auropunctata (Roger) e Wasmannia rochai Forel são duas formigas economicamente importantes no Sudeste e Sudoeste da Bahia. Marcadores de RAPD (polimorfismo de DNA amplificado ao acaso) foram utilizados para distinguir e analisar a variabilidade genética de populações de ambas as espécies, provenientes de Ilhéus e Jequié, BA, e da Guiana Francesa. As distâncias genéticas entre populações de W. auropunctata e W.rochai (55,8-71,4%) evidenciam a diferenciação genética entre elas. As populações de W. auropunctata presentes em canaviais e bananais de Jequié mostraram-se geneticamente mais distantes (30,1-46,3%), podendo representar populações restritas a fragmentos isolados. As elevadas distâncias genéticas entre as populações de W. auropunctata das áreas experimentais da CEPLAC, em Ilhéus (26,8-34,6%), assim como as demais populações de Ilhéus (23,3-40,8%), sugerem uma estrutura multicolonial de W. auropunctata no Sudeste da Bahia. A proximidade genética entre as populações de W. auropunctata dos cacauais (14,1%) e coqueirais de Ilhéus (18,5%) com as populações de floresta da Guiana Francesa sugere que houve expansão grande e recente de populações oriundas de uma única população a partir de um centro não-determinado, estando hoje distribuídas em habitats com características ambientais semelhantes. O elevado polimorfismo e os valores das heterozigosidades estimadas para as duas espécies sugerem que foram analisadas populações nativas de ambas as espécies.

Wasmannia auropunctata (Roger) and Wasmannia rochai Forel are economically important ants in the Southeast and Southwest regions of Bahia State, Brazil. Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers were used to distinguish and analyze the genetic variability of populations of both species from Ilhéus, Jequié, BA and French Guyana. The genetic distances among W. auropunctata and W.rochai populations (55.8-71.4%) suggest genetic differentiation among them. Wasmannia auropunctata populations from sugarcane and banana plantations in Jequié were the most distant genetically (30.1-46.3%) and may represent populations restricted to isolated fragments. The high genetic distances among W. auropunctata populations from CEPLAC experimental areas, in Ilhéus (26.8-34.6%) and the other populations from Ilhéus (23.3-40.8%), suggest a multicolonial structure of W. auropunctata in southeast Bahia. The genetic proximity among the W. auropunctata populations from cocoa (14.1%) and coconut plantations (18.5%) in Ilhéus with the populations from the French Guyanan forests suggest that there was recent and large expansion of populations derived from a single population, that are today distributed in habitats with similar environmental characteristics. The high polymorphism and the estimated heterozygosity values for the two species suggest that we studied native W. auropunctata and W.rochai populations.

Este estudo teve por objetivo avaliar se Parisoschoenus obesulus Casey só ataca frutos em processo de abortamento natural e, portanto, não é praga de frutos jovens do coqueiro. Para testar a hipótese, inflorescências em diversos estágios de desenvolvimento fisiológico foram oferecidas a indivíduos de P. obesulus. Os resultados mostraram que somente frutos abortivos foram colonizados por P. obesulus aceitando-se, portanto, a hipótese estabelecida.

This study aimed to evaluate if Parisoschoenus obesulus Casey only attacks naturally aborting coconuts and, consequently, is not a pest of young fruits of coconut tree. Aiming to test this hypothesis, inflorescences at diverse stages of physiological development were offered to individuals of P. obesulus. The results showed that only aborting fruits were colonized by P. obesulus corroborating the established hypothesis.