Reproductive behavior of the oil-collecting bee Epicharis dejeanii (Apidae: Centridini)
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Original article
Reproductive behavior of the oil-collecting bee Epicharis dejeanii (Apidae: Centridini) Enderlei DEC , Felipe VIVALLO Laboratório de Hymenoptera (HYMN); Departamento de Entomologia; Museu Nacional, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Quinta da Boa Vista - São Cristóvão, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 20940-040, Brazil Received 27 April 2020 – Revised 5 October 2020 – Accepted 28 October 2020
Abstract – In solitary bees, monandry is common in several species. Post-copulation strategies exerted by males to prevent females from mating with other males are known and vary between species. We studied a population of Epicharis dejeanii (Centridini) analyzing the reproductive aspects. The average mating time and the behavior of the couples were observed. Males performed synchronized movements of the legs and antennae in addition to vibrations that generated a loud sound. The females remained static, starting movements with their legs to finish the mating after approximately 50 s. During the mating, the females’ sting was kept exposed. The males inserted the aedeagus into the female’s genital opening but kept out the genitalia. The male’s post-copulatory behavior seems to be performed simultaneously during mating. mating behavior / monandry / post copulation / solitary bees
1. INTRODUCTION Reproductive strategies are known in several animal taxa (Brockmann 2001), and they are associated with the evolutionary success of the species and with the individual fitness of the specimens of each sex. Not only the mate, but also the previous and posterior stages (pre- and post-copulation) are important for the individual’s reproductive success. Thus, these events are articulated by males whose objective is to fertilize females, increasing their reproductive success. Several strategies are adopted in monandrous bees in which females copulate only once, and the
Corresponding author: E. Dec, [email protected] Manuscript editor: James Nieh Contributions: The field data collection were performed by ED; Both the authors analyzed the data, wrote and revised the manuscript; The figures were designed by FV.
dispute between males for mating can be quite aggressive. Alcock (1977) observed that in the solitary bee Centris pallida Fox, the larger males exert dominance over the virgin females. Variations in body size between males have also been reported in others bee species, such as Hylaeus alcyoneus (Erichson) (Colletidae) (Alcock and Houston 1987), Perdita portalis Timberlake (Andrenidae)(Danforth 1991), P . texana Timberlake (Danforth and Neff 1992), Amegilla dawsoni (Rayment)(Houston 1991), and Ptilothrix fructifera (Holmberg) (Apidae) (Oliveira and Schlindwein 2010). In the anthophorine bee A . dawsoni , the dispute for mating generates fights between males that result in the death of many of them, including of some females (Alcock 2013). In other species of solitary bees, two male strategies have been recorded: some of them patrol the nesting area while others patrol the flowers visited by the virgin females (Wcislo 1992;
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