Abstract

CARVALHO, Antônio F.  and  COSTA, Marco Antônio. Cytogenetic characterization of two species of Frieseomelitta Ihering, 1912 (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Meliponini). Genet. Mol. Biol. [online]. 2011, vol.34, n.2, pp. 237-239.  Epub Apr 01, 2011. ISSN 1415-4757.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1415-47572011005000010.

The cytogenetic analysis of Frieseomelitta dispar and F. francoi revealed the chromosome numbers 2n = 30 and n = 15 and a karyotypic formula 2K = 4M+2M^t+4A+20A^M. The number of chromosomes observed was consistent with those reported for other Frieseomelitta species. The occurrence of the M^t chromosome and other features of the karyotype formulae suggest a close relationship between F. dispar, F. francoi and F. varia. Nevertheless, it was possible to differentiate the karyotypes of the species by DAPI/CMA₃ staining, which revealed GC-rich regions on two chromosome pairs of F. dispar: one acrocentric and one pseudoacrocentric. In F. francoi, the same kinds of regions were observed on a pair of metacentrics and on a pair of acrocentrics. Our analysis also confirmed the chromosome number conservation in Frieseomelitta and suggests that infrequent pericentric inversion could constitute a synapomorphy for the group including F. dispar, F. francoi, and F. varia.

Keywords : Hymenoptera; Frieseomelitta; interspecific differentiation; C-banding; heterochromatin.