Journal Highlights
Micrographia
Polarization Microscopy and Infrared Microspectroscopy of Integument Coverings of Diapausing Larvae in Two Distantly Related Nonsocial Bees by MLS Mello, BC Vidal, and JG Rozen Jr., Microsc Microanal 24(1) (2018) 75–81.
T e larvae of the distantly related nonsocial bees Ericrocis lata and Hesperapis
rhodocerata, which develop mostly under arid desert areas of North America and that spin ( E. lata ) or do not spin ( H. rhodocerata ) cocoons, exhibit transparent fi lms covering the larval integument. Based on topochemical tests, high-performance polarization microscopy (Figure), and infrared microspectroscopy, a lipid nature was revealed for these fi lms. T e infrared spectral analysis, particularly, suggests a wax composition for such coverings, resembling the waxes used as construction materials in the honey cells produced by social bees. Considering that these larvae develop under arid environ- mental conditions, their covering fi lms may have evolved as protection against water depletion. T is hypothesis seems especially appropriate for H. rhodocerata larvae, which are capable of undergoing a 5-year-long diapause period in the absence of a protective cocoon.
Unstained wax fragment of the integumental covering from a nonsocial bee larva ( Hesperapis rhodocerata) as observed using high-performance polarization microscopy. The different colors were obtained when a fi rst-order red compe fornsator was introduced in the microscope slot revealing the variably oriented distribution of the covering elements.
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