Background: Stingless bees have a great value as main pollinators of wild flowering and cultivated plants, thus playing a fundamental role in the maintenance of biodiversity and food security in Latin America. Despite their importance, stingless bees face numerous threats causing alarming population declines. Moreover, stingless bees have a great cultural and traditional value, since most products from the hive are used for a wide variety of purposes. A growing number of initiatives are encouraging the breeding of these bees, through training courses and modern management techniques. This study documents the knowledge on stingless bees and their products that meliponiculturists from the Chaco region of Bolivia have, as well as the influence that meliponiculture initiatives have on the management and general knowledge of the bees. Methods: Local richness and diversity of stingless bees was calculated using Hill numbers. Structured interviews were conducted with 59 meliponiculturists in order to characterize traditional and formal knowledge on stingless bees and meliponiculture. Generalized linear models were applied to assess the influence of training courses on the management of the bees. Also, a relative cultural importance index was calculated for each species. Results: Twelve Meliponini species were identified, and 15 local names were reported with morphological, defensiveness behavior, and nest description. There was no significant difference in the knowledge between different ethnical backgrounds or ages. A significant difference was observed in the use of supplementary feeding and assisted division, but none in the success in racking hives or in pest management, regarding the number or courses taken. The relative cultural importance index recorded 30 specific uses for bee products grouped in four categories, from which 29 were attributed (but not exclusively) to Tetragonisca angustula, making it the most versatile species. Conclusions: The products of the hive, especially honey, are used for a wide variety of purposes, mostly in medicine. These uses are mostly attributed to just one species, T. angustula, in coincidence with what was taught in meliponiculture training courses by NGOs. The influence of formal knowledge is mostly positive, but it is recommended that other meliponini species are taken into account as well.

The morphological variations of four populations of geographically isolated Triatoma infestans located in the area of inter-Andean valleys and Chaco of Chuquisaca, Bolivia, were evaluated. Fifty-three females and sixty-one males were collected in the peri-domicile and analyzed with geometric morphometrics tools to study the patterns of the head and wing shape variation. The principal component analysis and canonical variate analysis revealed morphological variations between the populations studied, which were then confirmed by the permutation test of the differences between populations using Mahalanobis and Procustes distances. The multivariate regression analysis shows that the centroid size influences the shape of the heads and wings. T. infestans of the inter-Andean valleys are longer in the head and wings compared to the population of the Chaco. We propose that the geometric shape variation may be explained by geographical changes in climatic conditions, peri-domiciliar habitats, food source quality, and the use of insecticides.

Treehoppers (Membracidae) exhibit different levels of sociality, from solitary to presocial. Although they are one of the best biological systems to study the evolution of maternal care in insects, information on the biology of species in this group is scarce. This work describes the biology and ecology of Alchisme grossa (Fairmaire) (Hemiptera: Membracidae) in a rain cloud forest of Bolivia. This subsocial membracid utilizes two host-plant species, Brugmansia suaveolens (Humb. & Bonpl. ex Wild) Bercht. & J.Presl and Solanum ursinum (Rusby) (both Solanaceae), the first one being used during the whole year and the second one almost exclusively during the wet season. The development of A. grossa from egg to adult occurred on the plant where eggs were laid. Maternal care was observed during the complete nymphal development, and involved behavioral traits such as food facilitation and antidepredatory defense. Life cycle was longer on B. suaveolens during the dry season and shorter on S. ursinum during the wet season. Mortality was similar on both host plants during the wet season but was lower on B. suaveolens during the dry season. The presence of a secondary female companion to the egg-guarding female individual and occasional iteropary is also reported.

Adaptation to the most effective pollinator is often conceived as the primary explanation of widespread convergence in flower phenotypes. However, specialization does not exclude the presence of other floral visitors, which may contribute to plant reproduction. Here we combined observations about pollinators’ visitation rates and effectiveness with nectar secretion dynamics and sugar composition in four Andean Salvia species from Bolivia. The study revealed a wider diversity than expected both in pollination systems and in nectar strategies. While Salvia haenkei Benth. and Salvia stachydifolia Benth. were almost exclusively pollinated by either hummingbirds or bees, respectively, mixed pollination was found in Salvia orbignaei Benth., a species previously described as hummingbird-pollinated. Salvia personata Epling. was exclusively pollinated by syrphid flies. Differences in nectar volume and sugar concentration were found between insect-pollinated species and mixed- or hummingbird-pollinated species. However, the four Salvia species displayed different strategies regarding nectar sugar composition, with sucrose-rich nectar in Salvia orbignaei, glucose-rich nectar in Salvia haenkei and Salvia stachydifolia, and glucose-rich nectar lacking fructose in Salvia personata, suggesting an adaptation to syrphid fly pollination. Our results provide a clearer picture of floral trait evolution in Salvia and highlight the contribution of some pollinators different from those expected according to the floral syndromes.