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Simple Summary: The honeybee Apis mellifera plays a crucial role in pollination, supporting high-value crops, flowers, and field crops while contributing significantly to biodiversity by maintaining ecosystems that largely depend on honeybee pollination. Increasing attention has been given to the honeybee gut microbiota, as its microbial community is essential for host health. However, in the Philippines, the gut microbiome of A. mellifera remains underexplored, and its functional roles and microbial network interactions are poorly understood. This study reveals that the gut microbiome of A. mellifera in the Philippines is dominated by key bacterial symbionts, particularly Lactobacillus, and a fungal community primarily composed of Zygosaccharomyces. A predicted functional analysis highlighted enzymes involved in host defense, carbohydrate metabolism, and energy production. A network analysis further demonstrated negative associations between dominant bacteria and fungi with other micro-organisms. These findings provide valuable insights with potential applications in the apiculture industry, pollinator conservation, and food security. Insects often rely on symbiotic bacteria and fungi for various physiological processes, developmental stages, and defenses against parasites and diseases. Despite their significance, the associations between bacterial and fungal symbionts in Apis mellifera are not well studied, particularly in the Philippines. In this study, we collected A. mellifera from two different sites in the Municipality of Bacnotan, La Union, Philippines. A gut microbiome analysis was conducted using next-generation sequencing with the Illumina MiSeq platform. Bacterial and fungal community compositions were assessed using 16S rRNA and ITS gene sequences, respectively. Our findings confirm that adult worker bees of A. mellifera from the two locations possess distinct but comparably proportioned bacterial and fungal microbiomes. Key bacterial symbionts, including Lactobacillus, Bombilactobacillus, Bifidobacterium, Gilliamella, Snodgrassella, and Frischella, were identified. The fungal community was dominated by the yeasts Zygosaccharomyces and Priceomyces. Using the ENZYME nomenclature database and PICRUSt2 software version 2.5.2, a predicted functional enzyme analysis revealed the presence of β-glucosidase, catalase, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, glutathione transferase, and superoxide dismutase, which are involved in host defense, carbohydrate metabolism, and energy support. Additionally, we identified notable bacterial enzymes, including acetyl-CoA carboxylase and AMPs nucleosidase. Interestingly, the key bee symbionts were observed to have a negative correlation with other microbiota. These results provide a detailed characterization of the gut microbiota associated with A. mellifera in the Philippines and lay a foundation for further metagenomic studies of microbiomes in native or indigenous bee species in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Cambodia is home to four native species of honeybees (Apis dorsata, A. cerana, A. florea and A. andreniformis) alongside the introduced A. mellifera, all of which play a vital role in pollinating the country's forests and crops, thereby supporting biodiversity and agricultural productivity. However, native honeybee populations face mounting challenges, including habitat loss, agriculture intensification, unsustainable honey harvesting, and limited conservation initiatives. Beekeeping in Cambodia remains underdeveloped compared to neighboring countries, with wild honey collection continuing to play a significant role due to its cultural significance and the perceived medical value of wild honey. This review examines the status and distribution of honeybee species, assesses the threats to their populations, and discusses strategies for their conservation. It also evaluates the status of honey production value chain and trade, along with the challenges faced by the beekeeping sector, while proposing strategies for its development in Cambodia. The four honeybee species native to Cambodia—Apis dorsata, Apis cerana, Apis florea, and Apis andreniformis—play a vital role in ecosystem health and agricultural productivity through their pollination activities. Beekeeping in Cambodia has primarily developed around the introduced species Apis mellifera. However, it remains underdeveloped compared to neighboring countries, with wild honey collection continuing to play a significant role. Although native bees are not at immediate risk of extinction, their crucial ecological and socio-economic roles, coupled with the threats to their populations, necessitate the urgent implementation of conservation policies. The beekeeping sector in Cambodia faces numerous challenges that hinder its development. These include a lack of documentation and official data, limited access to productive apiaries, inappropriate pesticide practices, insufficient knowledge about bee health, diseases, and parasites, inadequate organization and representation of beekeepers, the high cost of Cambodian honey, and a lack of consumer awareness and trust in local bee products. This paper provides an overview of the status and distribution of honeybee species, along with the production, value chain, and trade of bee products in Cambodia. It examines the challenges of conserving native honeybees and developing the beekeeping sector while proposing strategies to strengthen bee conservation and support the growth of beekeeping in the country. Key recommendations focus on integrating bee conservation strategies with broader conservation goals, such as reducing deforestation, promoting sustainable agriculture, and regulating the consumption of wild bee brood. Key strategies for the development of beekeeping are documenting and conserving bee floral resources and habitats, reducing the use of bee-toxic pesticides, developing research and training capacities in beekeeping, regulating bee imports, and enhancing quality and authenticity testing facilities. Additionally, building capacity among honey value chain stakeholders in areas such as quality control, authenticity, processing, packaging, and marketing is essential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Termite mounds are a ubiquitous feature of savanna ecosystems, yet the mechanisms by which termites (Blattodea: Termitoidae) mitigate the challenges posed by seasonal drought and flooding through mound construction remain insufficiently explored. This study investigates the material properties, water retention capabilities, and resistance to raindrop penetration across three distinct layers of Globitermes sulphureus (Haviland, 1898) (Blattodea: Termitidae) nests. Our findings reveal a pronounced diversification and specialization of materials and functions across these layers. Specifically, the outer layer has decreased moisture permeability, the middle layer has enhanced resistance to water penetration, and the innermost layer has a high capacity for water retention. The integration of these functionally specialized layers provides a compelling evidence for explaining how these termites are able to adapt to the fluctuating environmental conditions characteristic of savanna ecosystems. Furthermore, this highlights the nest's buffering capability against environmental stressors.The complexity of this construction, marked by a level of self-organization rarely observed in the animal kingdom, underscores a significant instance of architectural ingenuity among non-human builders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: In Thailand, the scaly grain mite, Suidasia pontifica Oudemans, impacts the feed industry by emitting a lemongrass‐like odor in contaminated feed, reducing its palatability. This study focused on identifying volatile organic compounds (VOCs) associated with this odor in contaminated chicken feeds and ground maize, as well as individual mites using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). We explored the relationship between VOC concentration and mite population size in chicken feed cultures, aiming to detect minimal mite presence through regression models. Additionally, we tested the sensitivity of nine electronic odor sensors in detecting these VOCs. RESULTS: Our results showed Z‐citral and E‐citral present in mite‐contaminated ground maize, chicken feeds, but absent in uncontaminated samples. Mite populations in chicken feed followed a normal distribution, increasing rapidly, peaking, and then declining, a pattern mirrored in the concentrations of Z‐citral and E‐citral. Simple linear regression models confirmed a positive correlation between mite density and citral concentrations. Polynomial regression models indicated Z‐citral is detectable at mite densities over 67 individuals per gram and E‐citral over 3.89 individuals per gram. Odor sensors showed varying readings across different citral concentrations, uncontaminated, and mite‐infested chicken feeds. CONCLUSIONS: Our study confirms that S. pontifica are responsible for the lemongrass‐like odor in infested samples, due to Z‐citral and E‐citral. The citral concentrations increase with mite population growth and are detectable at low mite densities, suggesting their effectiveness as biomarkers for early mite infestation detection. Additionally, MQ series odor sensors detected these VOCs, indicating their potential for monitoring mite infestations in storage environments. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stingless bees, a social corbiculate bee member, play a crucial role in providing pollination services. Despite their importance, the structure of their microbiome, particularly the fungal communities, remains poorly understood. This study presents an initial characterization of the fungal community associated with two Thai commercial stingless bee species, Lepidotrigona terminata (Smith) and Tetragonula pagdeni (Schwarz) from Chiang Mai, Thailand. Utilizing ITS amplicon sequencing, we identified distinct fungal microbiomes in these two species. Notably, fungi from the phyla Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, Mucoromycota, Mortierellomycota, and Rozellomycota were present. The most dominant genera, which varied significantly between species, included Candida and Starmerella. Additionally, several key enzymes associated with energy metabolism, structural strength, and host defense reactions, such as adenosine triphosphatase, alcohol dehydrogenase, b-glucosidase, chitinase, and peptidylprolyl isomerase, were predicted. Our findings not only augment the limited knowledge of the fungal microbiome in Thai commercial stingless bees but also provide insights for their sustainable management through understanding their microbiome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bees play an important role by contributing to the pollination of a diverse range of crops and wild plants. However, bees are threatened by deforestation and habitat degradation caused by urbanization and agricultural intensification, which reduce floral and nesting resources.In this study, the effects of local (orchard size, flowering plant abundance and richness and floral abundance) and landscape factors (surrounding agricultural, forest and urban cover) on bee richness and abundance in mixed fruit orchards were determined from 28 mature orchards interspersed along a gradient of landscape complexity. Bees were observed for 15 min in 2 × 2 m plots. We categorized all bees into one of the three groups: (a) honey bees, (b) solitary bees and (c) stingless bees. Several local and landscape factors were found to influence bee richness and abundance. Honey bee abundance was positively affected by orchard size, whereas honey bee richness was not. Stingless bee richness and abundance were positively correlated with floral abundance. Forest cover within a 3‐km radius positively affected solitary bee richness. Solitary bee abundance was positively affected by forest cover within a 3‐km radius and negatively impacted by urban cover within a 1.5‐km radius. In our study area, small forest patches are found in abundance; thus, the high proportion of forest edge, relative to the forest interior, greatly supports solitary bee abundance and richness in this landscape. Moreover, most solitary bees are soil‐nesting species that may be excluded from environments that are converted from natural to anthropogenically developed areas.Recommendations to protect pollinators included conserving existing forest patches, especially forest margins; restoring forest patches within farmland landscapes; maintaining a diversity of herbs and grasses within mixed fruit orchards; establishing live fences composed of diverse plant species and retaining dead trees within farmland. For urban areas, augmenting floral resources in green spaces is suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Storage mites are serious pests of stored animal feeds and animals that consume mite-infested feed could reduce feed intake and eventually cause weight loss. To understand the mite species and infestation rates of them in animal feeds, we conducted a survey of mite infestations in samples of animal feeds from animal feed shops, feed mills, or chicken farms in eight provinces in northern Thailand. High mite infestation rates were observed in chicken feed (42.9%), followed by pig feed (26.7%). No mites were observed in fish and frog feeds. Mites were common in pelleted feeds (n = 96) or raw materials (n = 3), but was never observed in extruded feeds (n = 33). The mite species identified include three storage mites: Suidasia pontifica, Dermatophagoides farinae, and Aleuroglyphus chinensis, as well as the predatory mites Cheyletus malaccensis, Blattisocius keegani, and B. everti. Among them, A. chinensis and B. everti, are newly recorded in Thailand. Suidasia pontifica was dominant in chicken and pig feeds, and could be the major storage mite pest in northern Thailand. Figures and identification keys are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stingless bees play a crucial role in the environment and agriculture as they are effective pollinators. Furthermore, they can produce various products that can be exploited economically, such as propolis and honey. Despite their economic value, the knowledge of microbial community of stingless bees, and their roles on the bees' health, especially in Thailand, are in its infancy. This study aimed to investigate the composition and the functions of bacterial community associated with Tetragonula pagdeni stingless bees using culture-independent and culture-dependent approaches with emphasis on lactic acid bacteria. The culture-independent results showed that the dominant bacterial phyla were Firmicutes, Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria. The most abundant families were Lactobacillaceae and Halomonadaceae. Functional prediction indicated that the prevalent functions of bacterial communities were chemoheterotrophy and fermentation. In addition, the bacterial community might be able to biosynthesize amino acid and antimicrobial compounds. Further isolation and characterization resulted in isolates that belonged to the dominant taxa of the community and possessed potentially beneficial metabolic activity. This suggested that they are parts of the nutrient acquisition and host defense bacterial functional groups in Thai commercial stingless bees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Widespread parasites, along with emerging threats, globalization, and climate change, have greatly affected honey bees' health, leading to colony losses worldwide. In this study, we investigated the detection of biotic stressors (i.e., viruses, microsporidian, bacteria, and fungi) in Apis cerana by surveying the colonies across different regions of Thailand (Chiang Mai in the north, Nong Khai and Khon Kaen in the northeast, and Chumphon and Surat Thani in the south, in addition to the Samui and Pha-ngan islands). In this study, we detected ABPV, BQCV, LSV, and Nosema ceranae in A. cerana samples through RT-PCR. ABPV was only detected from the samples of Chiang Mai, whereas we found BQCV only in those from Chumphon. LSV was detected only in the samples from the Samui and Pha-ngan islands, where historically no managed bees are known. Nosema ceranae was found in all of the regions except for Nong Khai and Khon Kaen in northeastern Thailand. Paenibacillus larvae and Ascosphaera apis were not detected in any of the A. cerana samples in this survey. The phylogenetic tree analysis of the pathogens provided insights into the pathogens' movements and their distribution ranges across different landscapes, indicating the flow of pathogens among the honey bees. Here, we describe the presence of emerging pathogens in the Asian honey bee as a valuable step in our understanding of these pathogens in terms of the decline in eastern honey bee populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to investigate the lactic acid bacteria in stingless bees (Lepidotrigona terminata). Stingless bees were randomly collected from five different nests in Chiang Mai University, identified via the COI gene, and compared to those in the NCBI database. The result showed that all samples were L. terminata. Bees were extracted and subjected to 10-fold dilution to screen on MRS agar to estimate the number of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) cells in the samples. The colony forming unit (CFU) was between 1.28 x 10 6 ± 0.02 and 1.37 x 10 6 ± 0.08 CFU/g. Fifty isolates were chosen to perform an agar well assay to quantify the capacity of inhibiting against Paenibacillus larvae (strain LMG9820), a honey bee pathogen that causes American foulbrood. The results showed that bacteria from two nests (selected from those of the five nests) could inhibit the growth of P. larvae with the mean of a clear zone of 12.15 ± 0.2 mm. On the other hand, bacteria from the other three nests could not inhibit the pathogen. Identification of the effective bacteria species using 16S rRNA and the construction of the phylogenetic tree revealed that they were Fructobacillus fructosus of the Bacillus group. The cultured-independent result showed that Betaproteobacteria was the most abundant group (41.6%) of bacteria in stingless bees while Actinobacteria was the lowest in abundance (0.6%). Further experiments will need to be performed to examine the functions of these microorganisms in stingless bees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dinogamasus saengdaoae Attasopa & Ferrari sp. nov. is described based on adult females from the abdominal pouch of females of Xylocopa tenuiscapa (Westwood) in Chiang Mai Province, Northern Thailand. The new species belongs to the D. perkinsi (Oudemans) group (sensu LeVeque) and can be distinguished from its congeners by the combination of the following characters: (1) dorsal shield covering opisthosoma neither laterally nor posteriorly; (2) opisthonotal soft cuticle with a pair of relatively long setae posteriorly; (3) setae pd1, pd2 on genu I and ad3, pd3, pl1, pl2 on both genu and tibia I conical. Maximum likelihood-based analysis of newly-generated DNA barcodes shows that the sequenced specimens of D. saengdaoaesp. nov. form a monophyletic cluster, and parsimony analysis of a previously available morphological dataset indicates that the species comprises a strongly-supported clade with D. perkinsi and D. piperi LeVeque. We provide an additional couplet for Lundqvist's key for the species of Dinogamasus Kramer to facilitate identification of D. saengdaoaesp. nov.. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amegilla fimbriata (Smith, 1897) (Hymenoptera; Apidae; Anthophorini) is redescribed with detailed study of the male genitalia. Ambiguity concerning the subgeneric placement of A. fimbriata in the subgenus Glossamegilla is discussed. Lectotype of A. fimbriata is designated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stingless bees are vital pollinators for both wild and crop plants, yet their communities have been affected and altered by anthropogenic land-use change. Additionally, few studies have directly addressed the consequences of land-use change for meliponines, and knowledge on how their communities change across gradients in surrounding landscape cover remains scarce. Here, we examine both how local and landscape-level compositions as well as forest proximity affect both meliponine species richness and abundance together with pollination networks across 30 mixed fruit orchards in Southern Thailand. The results reveal that most landscape-level factors significantly influenced both stingless bee richness and abundance. Surrounding forest cover has a strong positive direct effect on both factors, while agricultural and urbanized cover generally reduced both bee abundance and diversity. In the local habitat, there is a significant interaction between orchard size and floral richness with stingless bee richness. We also found that pollinator specialization in pollination networks decreased when the distance to the forest patch increased. Both local and landscape factors thus influenced meliponine assemblages, particularly the forest patches surrounding an orchard, which potentially act as a key reservoir for stingless bees and other pollinator taxa. Preservation of forest patches can protect the permanent nesting and foraging habitat of various pollinator taxa, resulting in high visitation for crop and wild plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated different bacterial communities in three intestinal parts (foregut, midgut and hindgut) of Xylocopatenuiscapa to understand the roles of gut bacteria. Our phylogenetic analysis revealed that X. tenuiscapa is closely related to Xylocopa latipes. The 16S rRNA gene in the genomic DNA samples from the gut was examined by illumina (Solexa) and a total of 998 operational taxonomic unit (OTUs) clusters were found. Taxonomic classification identified 16 bacterial phyla and unclassified bacteria. The dominant bacteria taxa in the three parts of X. tenuiscapa gut were Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes and Actinobacteria. In the foregut, Lactobacillales and Enterobacteriaceae were predominantly found. The population in the midgut was similar to that in the foregut, with the addition of Gilliamella, which was also abundant. The most dominant bacteria identified in the hindgut were similar to those in the midgut and Lactobacillales, Enterobacteriaceae, Gilliamella, Bifidobacteriaceae and Flavobacteriaceae appeared in abundance. Moreover, our results suggest that a community structure of bacteria in different parts of X. tenuiscapa's gut may be an important indicator of carpenter bees' health. This functional study of bacterial communities revealed significant differences among the three intestinal parts and is the first report of the gut bacteria structure in solitary bees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]