sphecidae (sensu str1cto) + [apidae (sensu lato) + crabronidae] 35 Sphecidae (sensu stricto) 36 Apidae (sensu lato) + Crabronidae 36 Apic/.e (sensu lato) 38 CRABRON.DAE 38 LITERATURE CITED 43

Colour is one of the most obvious advertisements of flowers, and occurs in a huge diversity among the angiosperms. Flower colour is responsible for attraction from a distance, whereas contrasting colour patterns within flowers aid orientation of flower visitors after approaching the flowers. Due to the striking differences in colour vision systems and neural processing across animal taxa, flower colours evoke specific behavioural responses by different flower visitors. We tested whether and how yellow flowers differ in their spectral reflectance depending on the main pollinator. We focused on bees and birds and examined whether the presence or absence of the widespread UV reflectance pattern of yellow flowers predicts the main pollinator. Most bee-pollinated flowers displayed a pattern with UV-absorbing centres and UV-reflecting peripheries, whereas the majority of bird-pollinated flowers are entirely UV- absorbing. In choice experiments we found that bees did not show consistent preferences for any colour or pattern types. However, all tested bee species made their first antennal contact preferably at the UV-absorbing area of the artificial flower, irrespective of its spatial position within the flower. The appearance of UV patterns within flowers is the main difference in spectral reflectance between yellow bee- and bird-pollinated flowers, and affects the foraging behaviour of flower visitors. The results support the hypothesis that flower colours and the visual capabilities of their efficient pollinators are adapted to each other.

Tetrapedia diversipes Klug is herein reported for the first time to be the host of the cleptoparasite Coelioxoides waltheriae Ducke. Because these two genera had been previously recognized as sister taxa [A. Roig-Alsina. 1990. Coelioxoides Cresson, a parasitic genus of Tetrapediini (Hymenoptera: Apoidea). Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society 63: 279-287], the authors wished to learn to what extent biological information and immature stages reflected this relationship. Tetrapedia diversipes normally nests in holes in wood such as old beetle burrows, and it was induced to use trap nests for this study. Many aspects of the nesting behavior of females of this species are described, including the following: diurnal flight period; sleeping habits; nest structure; nest provisioning; egg placement; and sequence of nest construction, provisioning, and oviposition. Eggs produced by this species are categorized as ''giant'' (K. Iwata and S.F. Sakagami. 1966. Gigantism and dwarfism in bee eggs in relation to the mode of life, with notes on the number of ovarioles. Japanese Journal of Ecology 16: 4-16). Its first instar was discovered to be pharate within the chorion while the following four instars actively feed. Defecation starts early in the last larval stadium. Females use floral oils both in nest construction and in provisioning, and they carry pollen, oil, and soil with their scopae. The biology of T. diversipes was compared with that of other species in the genus and then compared with that of other apines that are known to nest in preformed cavities and that provision nests with pollen and floral oils. The host-nest searching behavior of Coelioxoides waltheriae is described. The cleptoparasite introduces its egg into the closed cell of the host shortly after cell closure. This egg is characterized as ''small'' (Iwata and Sakagami, ibid.) and has a very short incubation period. The highly modified first instar immediately feeds on the host egg and grows remarkably fast on the host yolk. This species has only four instars. Rates of development of the host and cleptoparasite are compared. Both have four ovarioles per ovary. Eggs, first instars, last larval instars, and pupae of host and cleptoparasite are taxonomically described and compared. In conclusion, the immatures of Coelioxoides and Tetrapedia are quite distinct from those of other known apids. While these two genera are probably sister genera based on the similarities identified by Roig-Alsina (op. cit.) and by this study, they are quite different from one another based on features of the eggs, first instars, and pupae. Recent issues of the Novitates may be purchased from the Museum. Lists of back issues of the Novitates and Bulletin published during the last five years are available at World

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ABSTRACT. Bee fauna and associated flora from a grassland site in Brazil, surveyed 40 and 20 years ago, were newly surveyed with comparable methodology to evaluate changes in the bee fauna of this site, considering that human population and urbanization has exponentially increased in the last 40 years. In general, bee species richness has declined in 22%, as well as their abundance. Some of the previously abundant species are now absent, including Bombus bellicosus Smith, 1879, Gaesischia fulgurans (Holmberg, 1903) and Thectochlora basiatra (Strand, 1910). No particular trend of differential decrease among either taxonomic or functional groups was observed, except for a minor increase in the proportion of oligolectic species and a 50% reduction in the number of large species. The first two surveys were more similar to each other in species richness per bee genus, while the two most recent grouped together based on measures of anthropogenic impact. Furthermore, the number of plant species visited by bees increased, with a pronounced increase in ruderal and exotic species. Crop cultivation, competition with honeybees and climate changes may all be related to bee decline. Nevertheless, the effects of urbanization, in particular intense land occupation and few preserved natural areas can be pointed as the main causes of species decline. Due to continuing increase in human population, increased erosion in diversity is expected. Habitat protection is an additional challenge to bee conservation in the region, with no local conservation units set aside for grasslands. State and municipal agencies should urgently consider the establishment of reserves for the few remaining patches of natural grasslands.

-Sequence data from the mitochondrial 16S rDNA of 34 species from 22 genera of stingless bees plus outgroup sequences from 11 species of other corbiculate bees were used to investigate the phylogenetic relationships among the Meliponini. Equally weighted parsimony and maximum likelihood analyses were performed. Four main clades were recognized in the parsimony consensus tree: (A) Hypotrigona, (B) Austroplebeia, (C) remaining African genera (Plebeina, Meliplebeia, and Axestotrigona) plus the two Oriental genera (Lepidotrigona and Heterotrigona), and (D) Neotropical genera. The African genus Hypotrigona was placed as the most basal branch in the tribe, followed by Austroplebeia as the sister group of other two major clades (C and D). Our results did not support traditional groups with intercontinental composition, e.g. Trigona sensu lato or Plebeia sensu lato.stingless bees / Meliponini / 16S rDNA / phylogeny

International audienceGiven human-related changes, quality distributional data are required for consistent conservation. Still, the lack of proper biogeographic information is a major setback for many groups. Here, we use new occurrences for Aglae caerulea in the Cerrado to model its potential distribution. We used Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt) and Genetic Algorithm for Rule-Set Production (GARP) algorithms in different modeling runs and both previous and new A. caerulea occurrences to predict this species distribution. Models which used only the previous A. caerulea’s records did not predicted the new Cerrado records, while those where we used the latter did predict the new ones as minimally suitable. A. caerulea distribution significantly increased towards the Cerrado according to both MaxEnt and GARP algorithms. Gallery forests are important dispersal alternatives for several species dwelling the Amazon and the Atlantic forest. Niche models of other rare Euglossini bees are advised to better evaluate their distributions