Temporal variation in homing ability of the neotropical stingless bee Scaptotrigona aff. postica (Hymenoptera: Apidae: M
- PDF / 3,902,992 Bytes
- 13 Pages / 467.716 x 680.315 pts Page_size
- 66 Downloads / 190 Views
Original article
Temporal variation in homing ability of the neotropical stingless bee Scaptotrigona aff. postica (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Meliponini) Alistair John CAMPBELL1,2 , Rafael Leandro Corrêa GOMES1 , Karoline Chaves da SILVA1 , Felipe Andrés León CONTRERA1 1
Laboratório de Biologia e Ecologia de Abelhas, Universidade Federal do Pará, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Rua Augusto Corrêa, No 1, Campus Básico, Guamá, Belém, PA 66075-110, Brazil 2 Departamento de Entomologia, Embrapa Amazônia Oriental, Belém, Pará 66095-903, Brazil Received 30 May 2018 – Revised 8 July 2019 – Accepted 18 July 2019
Abstract – Body size is a known predictor of foraging distance in stingless bees (Apidae: Meliponini). However, effects of seasonality on foraging distances, particularly in tropical regions, are poorly understood. Here, we use translocation (‘homing’) experiments, the release of marked individuals at various distances from the nest, to investigate how homing abilities of the Neotropical stingless bee, Scaptotrigona aff. postica differ across the transition between wet and dry seasons (February–August) in a heterogenous tropical landscape in the eastern Brazilian Amazon. We also determined nectar sugar concentrations of unmanipulated returning foragers to assess temporal changes in collected resource quality. Maximum and typical homing distances (i.e. distances where 90% and 50% of released bees are lost) were estimated to be 860 and 392 m, respectively, confirming that while some individuals travel long distances, most workers must remain close to nests during foraging trips. Homing distances and collected nectar sugar concentrations showed inverse temporal patterns, as homing range declined in later months (May to August), whereas nectar sugar concentrations increased over the same period. Thus, shorter homing distances in later ‘dry season’ months probably reflected an increased availability of floral resources compared with earlier months. Together, our findings highlight the limited spatial extent of foraging activities in S. aff. postica workers, and that bee homing distances vary with environmental conditions. These results provide useful information for both stingless bee colony management and conservation in humid tropical regions. foraging range / stingless bees / Amazon rainforest / translocation experiment / tropical pollinators
1. INTRODUCTION Bees are important animal pollinators of both wild and cultivated plant species (Klein et al. 2007; Ballantyne et al. 2017). However, both wild and managed bee populations are threatened by factors associated with human activities, including land use change, agrochemical use, novel pests
Corresponding author: A. Campbell, [email protected] Manuscript editor: Alexandra Klein
and pathogens, exotic species invasions and climate change (Vanbergen 2013). As all bees are central-placed foragers (i.e. nest-dwelling), they must have access to all required resources for their survival and reproduction (e.g. pollen, nectar, water, resins) within their max
Data Loading...
