This article examines a brief mention of the Egyptian gods Apis and Serapis in the Aduersus nationes by Arnobius of Sicca. This reference is situated within the context of several traditions dealing with the origin and connections of both of these mythical figures transmitted with some variations until Late Antiquity. It is proposed that the Peloponnesian Apis is identified with the Egyptian Serapis through a tradition already attested in Classical Greek authors, though without it being possible to determine which author is the specific reference for the Arnobian text.

The importance of wild insects as pollinators of tropical tree crops has rarely been tested. Across 18 small-scale lychee orchards in northern Thailand, we evaluated the roles of different wild insects as pollinators and predators of pests in fruit production. Quantitative assessments showed that bees (Family Apidae) were strongly dominant (83%) among insect flower visitors, comprising four species in tribes Apini and four in Meliponini. Experimental manipulations of inflorescences showed that fruit production in these orchards was: (1) dependent on flower visits by wild insects because enclosure of inflorescences in mesh bags decreased fruit set (to one-fifth) and (2) not greatly limited by pollinator deficiencies, because hand pollination of unbagged flowers did not enhance fruit set. Pollination success, as indicated by the proportion of unmanipulated flowers setting fruit, correlated positively across orchards with the abundance of large-bodied Apidae (>7 mm; most were Apis species) and of Apini, and negatively with abundance of small-bodied Apidae and of all Meliponini, despite the latter being the commonest flower visitors. We conclude that larger-bodied bees are most likely to travel sufficiently far to import genetically diverse pollen, in this landscape-scale mosaic where non-orchard habitats (both agriculture and treed patches) were sufficient to sustain wild pollinators.

It’s now remarkably easy to release to the world a cloud-based application programming interface (API) that provides some software function as a service. As a consequence, the cloud API space has become very densely populated, so that even if a particular API offers a service whose potential value is considerable, there are many other factors that play a role in determining whether or not that API will be commercially successful. If you’re thinking about entering the API marketplace with your latest and greatest idea, this post offers some entirely subjective advice on how you might increase the chances of your offering not being lost in all the noise.

The pollination ecology and breeding system of Trochetia granulata (Malvaceae), an endemic tree species from Réunion were studied. In 2010–2011, compatibility studies were conducted on a total of 154 flowers from 35 different individuals using three different hand pollination treatments: (a) autofertility, (b) self-pollination and (c) cross-pollination. During the period, we also studied the pollination ecology of T. granulata. During 48 h of video recordings, we tracked flower visits to T. granulata in six different sites and studied the behaviour of the visitors. The results from the hand-cross experiments show that T. granulata is self-compatible (60.8% fruit set) but cannot produce fruit (5.4% fruit set) without the visit of a pollen vector. During surveys, four different visitors were reported: the introduced honey bee (Apis mellifera), two endemic species of white-eye (Zosterops borbonicus borbonicus and Z. olivaceus) and the endemic Réunion day gecko (Phelsuma borbonica). This study documented a new case of vertebrate-pollination by lizard and birds in an insular context. These interactions might be linked to several uncommon floral traits of Trochetia species.

Bee colonies in lowland forest in Panama were monitored for pollen and nectar harvest, pollen species utilization and nectar quality and quantity per returning forager. Despite sharing most pollen resources and nectar of the same quality with 20 introduced colonies of the African honey bee (Apis mellifera), native stingless bees of 12 species were largely unaffected by its activity. Pollen and nectar harvested by the honey bees were 10–200 times that procured by 17 stingless bee colonies. This discrepancy in total harvest and general lack of competitive effect is explained by a honey bee foraging area over 10 times that of the native bees, and apparent foraging shifts to escape competition with honey bees, thus reduced potential overlap in foraging sites.

Seven cases of direct resource competition for pollen or nectar were documented, out of 31 tests. Rare periods of intensive harvest were diminished by competing African honey bees. Such harvest peaks lasted for only a few hours in 13 days of observation. Despite average duration of 4% foraging time for each species, peaks included as much as 51% total harvest. Calculations based upon colony populations, food stores and flight range show that if African honey bees persist at a density of 1 colony per km2, colonies of some stingless bee species may disappear after 10 years. Their chances of escaping food competition by taxonomic specialization on flowers seem slight.

The amount of free amino acids increases during the larval development. The accumulation is greater during the later larval life followed by an abrupt decline in the defaecating larva and early prepupa. The overall decrease in the free amino acid content during the period of metamorphosis is more in case of drones in comparison to that in workers. However, the amount present in adult drones is less than that of workers. The changes in the free amino acid content during the post-embryonic development of workers and drones of Apis cerana indica seem to show sexual dimorphism.