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Omnipresent in virtually all terrestrial ecosystems and of undisputed ecological and economical importance, the study of social insects is an area that continues to attract a vast number of researchers. As a consequence, a huge amount of information about their biology and ecology has accumulated. Distilling this scattered information into a highly focused reference, Food Exploitation by Social Insects: Ecological, Behavioral, and Theoretical Approaches unites traditional behavioral and ecological studies with theoretical and mathematical models.

The book covers foraging ecology and behavior of social insects, their communication mechanisms, and theoretical models of important aspects. It examines two different but inseparably interlaced levels of social insect foraging: the macroscopic or colony level and the microscopic or individual level. The chapters include discussions of foraging decisions, patterns and strategies of social insect colonies, and information use and information transfer between workers. The book provides examples of how this biological knowledge can be used as a basis for the construction of mathematical and neural network models that in return may increase understanding of social insect foraging.

The book, edited by Stefan Jarau and Michael Hrncir, has been published by CRC-Press on the fifth of may of 2009. Click here to get more information on the book, including the table of contents. On Amazon.com you can get a glimse of some of the pages (click here)

B-LAB WEATHER STATION FINALLY ONLINE

The weather station (an Oregon Scientific, WMR982) at the Department of Biology, FFCLRP, University of São Paulo - Ribeirão Preto is online since 01/03/2009. Data on ambient temperature, relative humidity, barometric pressure, rainfall, and wind (speed and direction) are updated every five minutes. The data can be accessed on the b-lab research page.
The position of the weather station is: Latitude: 21° 9' 48" South; Longitude: 41° 51' 38" West; Altitude: 580m above Sea Level.
Data between 15/07/2008 and 28/02/2009 as well as data recorded during the frequent internet-breakdowns are available on request.

CATALOGUE OF BEES IN THE NEOTROPICAL REGIONS

The publication of the Catalogue of Prof. Moure, with the necessary update, is something that has been expected for decades by generations of research-ers and professionals who work with and study the neotropical bee fauna. This catalogue is unique, resulting from one man's career dedicated to the advancement of knowledge of bee systematics and taxonomy. Since Dalla Torre's (1896) worldwide catalogue, published 111 years ago, no other comprehensive work of the Neotropical bee fauna has been produced.

Moure's catalogue is a fundamental reference for all interested in the neotropical bee fauna and will be useful to those working directly with systematics, taxonomy and biology of bees, as well as conservation, habitat restoration, plant reproductive biology, and pollination. The catalogue has 6811 species-group names, including a total of 5016 names representing valid species, 5000 extant and 16 fossil taxa. You can get the print-version (shipping-costs only) or access the online-version.

We try to stay up-to-date...
but you know how it is...


Update: 11.05.2009


BOOK ON SOCIAL INSECT FORAGING FINALLY PUBLISHED Omnipresent in virtually all terrestrial ecosystems and of undisputed ecological and economical importance, the study of social insects is an area that continues to attract a vast number of researchers. As a consequence, a huge amount of information about their biology and ecology has accumulated. Distilling this scattered information into a highly focused reference, Food Exploitation by Social Insects: Ecological, Behavioral, and Theoretical Approaches unites traditional behavioral and ecological studies with theoretical and mathematical models. The book covers foraging ecology and behavior of social insects, their communication mechanisms, and theoretical models of important aspects. It examines two different but inseparably interlaced levels of social insect foraging: the macroscopic or colony level and the microscopic or individual level. The chapters include discussions of foraging decisions, patterns and strategies of social insect colonies, and information use and information transfer between workers. The book provides examples of how this biological knowledge can be used as a basis for the construction of mathematical and neural network models that in return may increase understanding of social insect foraging.



The book, edited by Stefan Jarau and Michael Hrncir, has been published by CRC-Press on the fifth of may of 2009. Click here to get more information on the book, including the table of contents. On Amazon.com you can get a glimse of some of the pages (click here)

B-LAB WEATHER STATION FINALLY ONLINE
The weather station (an Oregon Scientific, WMR982) at the Department of Biology, FFCLRP, University of São Paulo - Ribeirão Preto is online since 01/03/2009. Data on ambient temperature, relative humidity, barometric pressure, rainfall, and wind (speed and direction) are updated every five minutes. The data can be accessed on the b-lab research page. The position of the weather station is: Latitude: 21° 9' 48" South; Longitude: 41° 51' 38" West; Altitude: 580m above Sea Level. Data between 15/07/2008 and 28/02/2009 as well as data recorded during the frequent internet-breakdowns are available on request.

In Memoriam: Martin Lindauer (19.12.1918 - 13.11.2008) OUTSTANDING BEHAVIOURAL PHYSIOLOGIST AND INITIATOR OF MELIPONINE COMMUNICATION RESEARCH Martin Lindauer died on the 13th of November 2008, five weeks before his 90th birthday. Although he is best known for his brilliant research on honey bees, to which he had been introduced by Nobel laureate Karl von Frisch in the 1940ies, Martin Lindauer should also be remembered for kindling and initiating the study of communication in Meliponini. In 1956, he travelled to

Brazil where he studied the communication of meliponine bees together with Warwick Estevam Kerr, one of the leading Brazilian bee researchers at that time. The outcome of this scientific collaboration, published in 1958 (Lindauer and Kerr 1958; English version: 1960), is still considered a milestone in the study of meliponine behaviour. Even today, 50 years later, the paper by Lindauer and Kerr is omnipresent in every publication dealing with communication of Meliponini. Unfortunately, Martin Lindauer never returned to the tropics to continue his research on meliponine bees. One reason might have been his increasing teaching duties that, probably, did not allow him to stay far away from home for several months. In 1961, Martin Lindauer was promoted to the rank of Associate Professor at the University of Munich, and in 1963, he accepted a call to become Professor of Zoology at the University of Frankfurt. In 1973, he became Professor of Zoology at the University of Würzburg where he taught until being awarded emeritus status in 1987. Martin Lindauer was elected to several honorary societies, including the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, and the German Academy of Sciences (Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher, Leopoldina). According to his students, among which we encounter famous names like Bert Hölldobler, Randolf Menzel, Rüdiger Wehner, and Hubert Markl, Martin Lindauer was an excellent teacher and great personality, and, according to Friedrich G. Barth (a former student at the University of Frankfurt), his passion for bees was legendary. To a request from the University, finally to use up his large amount of leave days that had accumulated over the years, Martin Lindauer is said to have replied as follows: "There is no need for leave days as long as you let me listen to the buzzing of my bees". (text by Dirk Louis P. Schorkopf) Obituary: Martin Lindauer by Thomas D. Seeley (11/12/2008): Nature 456, 718. LINK For further information on Martin Lindauer's scientific life see: Seeley, T. D., Kühnholz, S. and Seeley, R. H. (2002) An early chapter in behavioral physiology and sociobiology: the science of Martin Lindauer. J. Comp. Physiol. A 188, 439-453. LINK Some publications by Martin Lindauer: Lindauer, M. (1948) Über die Einwirkung von Duft-und Geschmacksstoffen sowie anderer Faktoren auf die Tänze der Bienen. Z. Vergl. Physiol. 31, 348-412. LINK Lindauer, M. (1952) Ein Beitrag zur Frage der Arbeitsteilung im Bienenstaat. Z. Vergl. Physiol. 34, 299-345. LINK Lindauer, M. (1956) Über die Verständigung bei Indischen Bienen. Z. Vergl. Physiol. 38, 521-557. LINK Lindauer, M. and Kerr, W. E. (1958) Die gegenseitige Verständigung bei den stachellosen Bienen. Z. Vergl. Physiol. 41, 405-434. LINK Lindauer, M. (1961) Communication among Social Bees. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

CATALOGUE OF BEES IN THE NEOTROPICAL REGIONS The publication of the Catalogue of Prof. Moure, with the necessary update, is something that has been expected for decades by generations of research-ers and professionals who work with and study the neotropical bee fauna. This catalogue is unique, resulting from one man's career dedicated to the advancement of knowledge of bee systematics and taxonomy. Since Dalla Torre's (1896) worldwide catalogue, published 111 years ago, no other comprehensive work of the Neotropical bee fauna has been produced.
Moure's catalogue is a fundamental reference for all interested in the neotropical bee fauna and will be useful to those working directly with systematics, taxonomy and biology of bees, as well as conservation, habitat restoration, plant reproductive biology, and pollination. The catalogue has 6811 species-group names, including a total of 5016 names representing valid species, 5000 extant and 16 fossil taxa. You can get the print-version (shipping-costs only) or access the online-version.

					We try to stay up-to-date... but you know how it is...