scholarly journals Pollen Resources Used by Two Species of Stingless Bees (Meliponini) in a Tropical Dry Forest of Southern Ecuador

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fernando P Gaona ◽  
Anthony Guerrero ◽  
Elizabeth Gusmán ◽  
Carlos Iván Espinosa

Abstract Pollinators are crucial for ecosystem functionality; however, little is known about the plant species used by some of these, such as stingless bees. In this study, for the first time, pollen resources used by Melipona mimetica Cockerell (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Meliponini) and Scaptotrigona sp. Moure (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Meliponini) were identified through analysis of corbicular pollen found on worker bees in a dry forest in southern Ecuador. In total, 68 pollen types were identified belonging to 31 botanical families. The most represented plant families were Fabaceae (16%), Malvaceae (7%), and Boraginaceae (7%). Both stingless bee species exhibited a polylectic behavior, with an average of 16 pollen types collected by individual bees. Differences in abundances of pollen types collected by each species indicated distinct uses for these two bee species.

2009 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yolanda Domínguez-Castellanos ◽  
Beatriz Hernandez Meza ◽  
Angeles Mendoza D. ◽  
Gerardo Ceballos González

Resumen: Se determinó la estructura y el contenido de las madrigueras de Liomys pictus por tipo de vegetación y temporada del año, en dos selvas tropicales del Pacífico Mexicano. Se encontraron 24 madrigueras: en la selva baja la mayoría son complejas, mientras que  en la selva mediana son lineales, por consiguiente y de acuerdo a la clasificación de las madrigueras, en selva baja se presentaron madrigueras múltiples y en selva mediana madrigueras simples. De acuerdo al contenido, las de selva baja tienen en promedio una mayor cantidad de materiales en comparación a las de selva mediana. Se catalogaron un total de 248 especies de plantas de estas 50 se comparten en ambos sitios, del total de las especies se llegaron a identificar sólo 77. Las familias más representativas fueron Leguminoseae, Euphorbiaceae y Convolvulaceae. La estructura de las madrigueras no esta determinada por la temporalidad, sin embargo el contenido esta determinado con la cantidad de material almacenado aunque la producción de semillas esta definido por el patrón de fructificación que esta dado a lo largo del año.Palabras clave: Madrigueras, estructura, contenido, Liomys pictus, Jalisco, México.Abstract: We determined the structure and contents of burrows of Liomys pictus by vegetation type and season in two tropical forests of the Mexican Pacific. 24 burrows were found in the tropical dry forest and most complex, in the semi deciduous forest is linear, and therefore according to the classification of the burrows in the tropical dry forest are more numerous and simple in the semi deciduous forest. According to the content, of the tropical dry forest have on average a greater amount of material compared to the semi deciduous forest. Were categorized a total of 248 plant species of these 50 sites are shared in both the total number of species is to determine 77. The most representative families were Leguminoseae, Euphorbiaceae and Convulvolaceae. The structure of the burrows is not affected by the timing, but the content is determined with the amount of stored material but seed production is defined by the pattern of fruit that is given throughout the year.Key words: Burrows, structure, food hoarding, Liomys pictus, Jalisco, Mexico.


Trees ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 1075-1086
Author(s):  
Joan Sebastian Aguilar-Peralta ◽  
Antonio González-Rodríguez ◽  
Yurixhi Maldonado-López ◽  
Marcílio Fagundes ◽  
Maurício L. Faria ◽  
...  

2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 278-288 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valéria Cid Maia ◽  
Marcelo da Costa Souza

The xeric vegetation of Ilha do Cabo Frio (Arraial do Cabo, RJ) was investigated for insect galls, in May, June and August of 2012, totalizing 24 hours of field work. Forty-five morphotypes of insect galls were found on 29 species of host plant (25 genera and 18 families). Asteraceae and Myrtaceae were the most galled plant families. Leaves were the most galled plant organ, with ca. 62% of the total, followed by stems (ca. 22%). Globoid and fusiform galls were the most frequent with about 29% and 24%, respectively. The majority was glabrous (ca. 91%), and one-chambered (ca. 84%). Gallers of 30 morphotypes were determined. They belong to Diptera (Cecidomyiidae), and Lepidoptera. The former was the most frequent. Larvae of Muscomorpha (Diptera) (probably inquilines) were found in a single gall morphotype; parasitoids (Hymenoptera) in seven (ca. 15% of the total), and predators (pseudoscorpion) in a single one. As there is no previous data of insect galls of Ilha do Cabo Frio, all records presented here are new. The geographic distribution of nine species of gall midges (Diptera, Cecidomyiidae) is widened. For the first time, eleven plant species are recorded as host of galling insects, and 24 gall morphotypes are described.


Caldasia ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-29
Author(s):  
Diego A. Guevara ◽  
Victor H. Gonzalez ◽  
Rodulfo Ospina

Stingless bees (Apidae: Meliponini) are culturally and economically important bees and they represent a major component of the Colombian melittofauna. However, the bee fauna of Colombia is still in early stages of exploration and species identification is often difficult or impossible. We revised the species of the cleptobiotic stingless bee genus Lestrimelitta in Colombia and recognized the following eleven species: L. glabrata, L. guyanensis, L. rufa, L. rufipes, and L. spinosa, which are recorded for the first time for the country; L. huilensis, L. opita, L. piedemontana, and two new species, L. diminuta, sp. n. and L. galvisi sp. n. We also confirmed the presence of L. limao in the Colombian Amazon and provide new geographical records with an updated key to species from Central America and northern South America


Sociobiology ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 60 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Felipe Varussa de Oliveira Lima ◽  
Rogerio Silvestre ◽  
José Benedito Perrella Balestieri

Sociobiology ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 731 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thiago Felipe Fonseca Nunes De Oliveira ◽  
Luiz Luz Da Silva ◽  
Michael Hrncir

Social bees make use of natural or animal-built structures to protect their colonies from environmental stressors. Here, particularly attractive shelters are active termite nests because they provide a stable climatic environment for inquilines. Several social bee species form obligatory associations with termites, among these the stingless bee Partamona seridoensis (Apidae, Meliponini), whose distribution is limited to the Tropical Dry Forest in the Brazilian Northeast. So far, colonies of this meliponine species have been found mainly in arboreal nests of the termite Constrictotermes cyphergaster, which suggests a tight relationship between these two social insect species. The present study was conducted in an area of the Tropical Dry Forest in the Brazilian State of Rio Grande do Norte, where P. seridoensis naturally occurs albeit the absence of C. cyphergaster. We registered 14 colonies of P. seridoensis, all occupying active arboreal nests of termites of the genus Microcerotermes. The only other termites with arboreal nests present in the study area, Nasutitermes corniger, never housed P. seridoensis. This selective preference of the bees for Microcerotermes nests might be due to differences between termites concerning defense mechanisms or concerning thermal stability within the nests.


2014 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 265-268 ◽  
Author(s):  
Moisés Méndez-Toribio ◽  
Ana María González-Di Pierro ◽  
Mauricio Quesada ◽  
Julieta Benítez-Malvido

Abstract:In dioecious plant species different frugivore activity between genders may influence the abundance and richness of the seedling banks underneath their canopies throughout seed removal and dispersal. In the tropical dry forest of Chamela, on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, the role of S. purpurea female trees as nucleation sites of regeneration was investigated. The standing density, species richness and dispersal syndrome of woody seedlings (i.e. trees and shrubs, 10–100 cm tall) recruited underneath and outside the canopy of 10 male and 10 female S. purpurea trees were recorded in a total of 160 1-m2 plots. Total density was greater in seedling communities associated with female trees (i.e. underneath and outside their canopies) as compared with male trees (231 vs. 153 seedlings, respectively); whereas overall species richness was greater underneath female canopies. Further, the density of zoochorous species were greater underneath the canopy of S. purpurea females (range = 0–5 plants m−2), than elsewhere (outside female canopies, range = 0–3 plants m−2; underneath and outside male canopies, range = 0–2 plants m−2), suggesting a directional dispersal bias towards them. Females of dioecious plant species may act as nucleation sites of initial seedling recruitment in tropical dry forests.


Apidologie ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 46 (5) ◽  
pp. 631-643 ◽  
Author(s):  
Camila Maia-Silva ◽  
Michael Hrncir ◽  
Claudia Inês da Silva ◽  
Vera Lucia Imperatriz-Fonseca

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-26
Author(s):  
Sebastián Montoya-Bustamante ◽  
Natalya Zapata-Mesa

During a 6-months research carried out in the Robles village (Jamundí municipality, Valle del Cauca Department, Colombia) in 2014, bat feces were collected to determine the diet of fruit-eating bats. This study area included farms and tropical dry forest remnants, where A. lituratus was the most generalist species, with 10 different plant species recorded in its diet, including Ficus, Psidium, Mangifera, Cecropia, and Piper species (Montoya-Bustamante et al., 2016). Within two (out of 130) different fecal samples an individual of Atta cephalotes (both workers) were found associated to Psidium guajava seeds and pulp


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 490-505 ◽  
Author(s):  
Salvador Mandujano ◽  
Ariana Barrera-Salazar ◽  
Antonio Vergara-Castrejón

El manejo de caprinos (Capra hircus) en sistemas extensivos es una práctica común en la Reserva de la Biosfera Tehuacán-Cuicatlán (RBTC), México. En el presente estudio se analizó la similitud de las especies de plantas consumidas por los caprinos de diferentes rebaños en un paisaje de la Cañada en Oaxaca. Se siguió a ocho rebaños en diferentes localidades durante las épocas de lluvias 2012 y la de seca 2013. Para determinar la similitud espacial y temporal entre los rebaños dependiendo de las plantas consumidas, se emplearon métodos de análisis multivariado, específicamente de agrupamiento jerárquico en el programa R. Los caprinos consumieron 84 especies, de las cuales 30 constituyen el 75 % de la dieta. De acuerdo a los análisis de similitud, Mimosa sp. y Acacia cochiliacantha fueron las especies consumidas con mayor frecuencia por todos los rebaños; mientras que Eleusine indica, Prosopis leavigata y Opuntia sp. fueron las siguientes en importancia. El rebaño de la localidad Tecomovaca fue el menos similar al resto de los rebaños estudiados. Estos resultados contribuyen al entendimiento de los hábitos de forrajeo de los caprinos en región tropical seca, donde la disponibilidad de recursos es marcadamente estacional.


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