Staff

Education

• Ms. in Biological Sciences. Faculty of Exact and Natural Sciences, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina.
• PhD in Biological Sciences. Faculty of Exact and Natural Sciences, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Current positions

• Associate Researcher of the Argentina National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET).

Research interests

• Pollination.
• Chemical Ecology.
• Plant-insect interactions, bees, hawkmoths.

Publications in refereed journals (last 5 years)

• Balbuena, M.S.; Buchmann, S.; Papaj, D.; Raguso, R.A. (2023) Organ-specific volatiles form Sonoran Desert Krameria flowers as potential signals for oil-collecting bees. Phytochemistry. In press.
• Grüter, C.; Balbuena, M.S.; Valadares, L. (2023) Mechanisms and adaptations that shape division of labour in stingless bees. Current Opinion in Insect Science. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cois.2023.101057.
• Farina, W.M.; Palottini, F.; Estravis-Barcala, M.C.; Arenas, A.; Balbuena, M.S.; González, A. (2023) Conditioning honeybees to a specific mimic odor increases foraging activity on a self-compatible almond variety. Apidologie, doi: 10.1007/s13592-023-01019-7.
• Balbuena, M.S.; Broadhead, G.T.; Dahake, A.; Barnett, E.; Vergara, M.; Skogen, K.A.; Jogesh, T.; Raguso, R.A. (2022) Mutualism has its limits: consequences of asymmetric interactions between a well-defended plant and its herbivorous pollinator. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 377: 20210166, doi:10.1098/rstb.2021.0166.
• Balbuena, M.S.*; Farina, W.M. (2020) Chemosensory reception in the stingless bee Tetragonisca angustula. Journal of Insect Physiology, 125: 104076, doi.org/10.1016/j.jinsphys.2020.104076 (*corresponding author).
• Vázquez, D.E.*; Balbuena, M.S.*; Chaves, F.; Gora, J.; Menzel, R; Farina, W.M. (2020) The herbicide glyphosate affects wake/rest behavior of the honey bee. Scientific Reports, 10:10516, doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-67477-6 (*first authors).
• Farina, W.M.; Balbuena, M.S.; Herbert, L.T.; Mengoni Goñalons, C.; Vázquez, D.E. (2019) Effects of the herbicide glyphosate on honey bee sensory and cognitive abilities: individual impairments with implications for the hive. Insects, 10 (354), DOI: 10.3390/insects10100354. Review article.
• Balbuena, M.S.*; González, A.; Farina, W.M. (2019) Characterizing honeybee cuticular hydrocarbons during foraging. Sociobiology, 66(1): 97-106, DOI: 10.13102/sociobiology.v66i1.2977 (*corresponding author).
• Menzel, R.; Tison, L.; Fischer-Nakai, J.; Cheeseman, J.; Balbuena, M.S.; Chen, X.; Landgraf, T.; Petrasch, J.; Polster, J.; Greggers, U. (2019) Guidance of navigating honeybees by learned elongated ground structures. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, doi: 10.3389/fnbeh.2018.00322.

Management of research projects (last 5 years)

• “Ecología química de abejas polinizadoras nativas de interés económico y ecológico. Olores que median la interacción intra e interespecífica de especies sociales y solitaria” (PICT-2020-SERIEA-02055). Investigadora Responsable.