Navegando por Autor "Aguiar, Ludmilla Moura de Souza"
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Item Descriptive ecology of bat flies (Diptera: Hippoboscoidea) associated with vampire bats (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae) in the cerrado of central Brazil.(2011) Aguiar, Ludmilla Moura de Souza; Itabaiana, Yasmine AntoniniWe studied the ectoparasitic bat flies of three phyllostomid vampire bat species. Bats were collected monthly from April 2004-March 2005 in caves within the Cafuringa Environmental Protection Area in the Federal District of Brazil. A total of 1,259 specimens from six species in the Streblidae family were collected from 332 bats. High host affinity from the sampled bat fly species and high prevalence of bat flies confirms the primary fly-host associations (Strebla wiedemanni, Trichobius parasiticus and Trichobius furmani with Desmodus, Trichobius diaemi and Strebla diaemi with Diaemus and T. furmani with Diphylla). Male flies outnumbered females in several associations. Some of the observed associations (e.g., Strebla mirabilis with Desmodus and S. mirabilis, Trichobius uniformis and S. wiedemanni with Diphylla) were inconclusive and the causes of the associations were unclear. There are several explanations for these associations, including (i) accidental contamination during sampling, (ii) simultaneous capture of several host species in the same net or (iii) genuine, but rare, ecological associations. Although various species of vampire bats share roosts, have similar feeding habits and are close phylogenetic relatives, they generally do not share ectoparasitic streblid bat flies. T. diaemi and S. diaemi associations with Diaemus youngi have not been previously reported in this region.Item Diet of two sympatric insectivores bats (Chiroptera : Vespertilionidae) in the Cerrado of Central Brazil.(2010) Aguiar, Ludmilla Moura de Souza; Antonini, YasmineFoi examinado o hábito alimentar das espécies de Vespertilionidae Myotis nigricans (Schinz, 1821) e Eptesicus furinalis (d’Orbigny, 1847) por meio de análise de amostras fecais coletadas em animais capturados em área de cerrado sensu stricto e matas de galeria, na APA – Gama-Cabeça-de-Veado, Brasília, Distrito Federal, Brasil. Um total de 20 amostras fecais foi analisado, sendo sete de E. furinalis e 13 de M. nigricans. A dieta de E. furinalis incluiu seis ordens de insetos: Coleoptera (5/7) (presença na amostra total), Lepidoptera e Hymenoptera (3/7), Diptera, Hemiptera e Homoptera (1/7). A dieta de M. nigricans incluiu todas as ordens consumidas por E. furinalis (6/13, 4/13, 4/13, 3/13, 1/13, and 4/13 respectively) e uma ordem a mais: Orthoptera (1/13). Homoptera, Diptera e Orthoptera só foram amostrados para morcegos capturados em mata de galeria. Há 80% de sobreposição na dieta destas duas espécies. A predação sobre espécies das famílias Scarabeidae, Hesperiidae, Sphingidae e Saturniidae confirma o potencial dos morcegos como agentes de controle biológicos de pragas em ecossistemas agrícolas.Item Overlap in cave usage and period of activity as factors structuring the interactions between bats and ectoparasites.(2017) Fagundes, Roberth; Itabaiana, Yasmine Antonini; Aguiar, Ludmilla Moura de SouzaBats perform important ecosystem services such as pollination and seed dispersal. Bats are also hosts to obligate ectoparasites, which influence their behavior and, thus, compromise their ecosystem functions. Therefore, the study of the bat-ectoparasitic interaction network and its driven factors is basic for understanding variation in the ecosystem services provided by bats. In this study, we evaluated the structure of the network of interactions between bats and their ectoparasite arthropods, testing the roles of overlap in cave usage and period of activity as factors structuring the interactions. We conducted the study in caves within the Cerrado ecosystem near Brasília, Brazil. Our results show that the bat-ectoparasite network has a modular pattern and is highly specialized. The observed pattern was explained by the greater probability of transmission of ectoparasites among bats sharing the same cave during the same period of the year. Furthermore, our data showed that the rate of bat infestation by different ectoparasite species is related to the degree of exposure of bats according to their abundance and activity period, but not with the number of caves used to roost. Thus, we believe that the frequency of activity and encounters between bats, and therefore the rate of ectoparasite transmission, is an important regulatory mechanism of bat-ectoparasite networks. This ecological mechanism may facilitate the formation of specific interactions by spatial and temporal segregation and co-evolution of parasite species among groups of roosting bats.Item Pollination biology of the endangered columnar cactus Cipocereus crassisepalus : a case of close relationship between plant and pollinator.(2020) Leandro, Cristiane Martins; Oliveira, Reisla Silva de; Aguiar, Ludmilla Moura de Souza; Itabaiana, Yasmine AntoniniThe family Cactaceae possesses considerable floral diversity and is exclusively zoophilic. Cipocereus crassisepalus is an endangered species of columnar cactus, whose floral characteristics fit the chiropterophily syndrome. This study aimed to assess the correspondence between floral traits and pollinators and whether the pollination system of C. crassisepalus is specialized, as suggested by the hypothesis of geographical dichotomy. Hand pollination treatments demonstrated that C. crassisepalus depends on cross-pollen flow mediated by pollinators to set fruit and seeds. Nocturnal film recordings, diurnal observations, analyses of pollen loads of flower visitors and visitor exclusion experiments provided strong evidence that bats are the sole pollinators of this cactus. During two flowering seasons, pollen grains of C. crassisepalus were found only on the bodies of the bat Anoura caudifer. Cipocereus crassisepalus possesses a pollination system specialized on nectar-feeding bats, which corroborates the geographical dichotomy hypothesis.Item Prevalence and intensity of Streblidae in bats from a Neotropical savanna region in Brazil.(2016) Aguiar, Ludmilla Moura de Souza; Itabaiana, Yasmine AntoniniBats of the family Phyllostomidae are common hosts to streblids known as bat flies. Here, we discuss the component community, prevalence and intensity of infection with species of Streblidae on an assemblage of phyllostomid bats in the Cafuringa Environmental Protection Area (APA Cafuringa) in the core area of the Cerrado in Central Brazil. A total of 1841 streblid individuals of 24 species occurred on 752 bats of 14 species. Ten species of streblids infected Glossophaga soricina (Pallas), whereas seven or fewer streblid species infected the other bat species. Nine bat fly species presented a prevalence of more than 50%, whereas some differences in the abundance of bat flies among hosts were observed. Strebla wiedemanni Kolenati, 1856 and Trichobius furmani Wenzel, 1966 were more host-specific compared to the other streblids, and they occurred in greater abundance on their preferred hosts. Trichobius uniformis Curran, 1935 and Strebla mirabilis (Waterhouse, 1879) were the least host-specific, occurring on five and six hosts, respectively.Item Reproductive biology of Cipocereus minensis (Cactaceae) — a columnarcactus endemic to rupestrian fields of a Neotropical savannah.(2016) Martins, Cristiane; Oliveira, Reisla Silva de; Mendonça Filho, Carlos Victor; Lopes, Liliane Teixeira; Silveira, Rodrigo Assunção da; Silva, Juliana Aparecida Pereira da; Aguiar, Ludmilla Moura de Souza; Antonini, YasmineWe studied the reproductive biology of Cipocereus minensis, an endemic columnar cactus of the Espinhac¸ oMountain Range, Southeastern Brazil, focusing on floral biology, breeding system, and pollination. Wedescribed floral morphology and evaluated the role of nocturnal and diurnal pollinators on the repro-ductive success in two populations. C. minensis has large, horizontal, cream-colored, chiropterophilousflowers with rigid petals that open at dusk and close on the following morning. Flowers produced ahuge amount of pollen grains and nectar production was nocturnal. Controlled pollination experimentsrevealed that the cactus is an obligate xenogamous species. Visitor-exclusion experiments revealed thatthe nocturnal visitors (bats) are the prominent pollinators whereas hummingbirds and social bees, whichvisited the flowers early in the morning, contributed little to fruit set. We conclude that the reproductivesuccess of this endemic columnar cactus is threatened in the absence of the effective pollinating bats.Item Richness, composition and trophic niche of stingless bee assemblages in urban forest remnants.(2012) Itabaiana, Yasmine Antonini; Martins, Rogério Parentoni; Aguiar, Ludmilla Moura de Souza; Loyola, Rafael DiasFew studies directly address the consequences of habitat fragmentation for pollinating insect communities, particularly for the neotropical key pollinator group of stingless bees. Most studies on bees have defined habitat fragments as remnant patches of floral hosts or forests, overlooking the nesting needs of bees. Their conclusion is that habitat fragmentation is broadly deleterious; however, there are contrasting results in the literature. Insightful studies on habitat fragmentation and bees should consider fragmentation, alteration and loss of nesting habitats—not just patches of forage plants –, as well as the permeability of the surrounding matrix to interpatch movement. Here we investigated the effects of fragmentation caused by urbanization on stingless bee species’ composition and richness, as well as the permeability of the surrounding matrix. We collected bees from flowering plants and recorded phytosociological variables of five forest remnants (ranging from 64 ha to 900 ha) in southeastern Brazil. Large fragments did not contain more species per unit area than smaller ones; in fact, we found more species in small fragments, most of which were generalist bees. The presence of more habitat generalist stingless bee species was also correlated to the structure of vegetation in these fragments. In conclusion, the quality of the habitat within a fragment (structure of vegetation) as well as the quality of the matrix has a direct relation to the bee species composition. This can be seen in the direct relationship between structural diversity of the environment and age of the fragments. The matrix that holds the most recent fragments, probably due to the sprawl of the city, is more heterogeneous than the one with the oldest fragments. The most heterogeneous matrices have a certain balance between the trees, buildings and bare soil or herbaceous vegetation coverage, making the array less impermeable to bees.