Two common species dominate the species-rich Euglossine bee fauna of an Atlantic Rainforest remnant in Pernambuco, Brazil

Abstract

Nowadays, the northern part of the Atlantic Rainforest of Brazil is largely destroyed and forest remnants rarely exceed 100 ha. In a 118 ha forest fragment within a state nature reserve of Pernambuco (Reserva Ecológica Gurjaú), we surveyed the orchid bee fauna (Apidae, Euglossini) using eight different scent baits to attract males. Once a month during one year, the bees were actively collected with entomological nets, from November 2002 to October 2003 by two collectors. We collected 2,908 orchid bee males belonging to 23 species, one of the highest richness values of the Northern Atlantic Rainforest. Bees of only two species, Euglossa carolina (50%) and Eulaema nigrita (25%), which occurred throughout the year, accounted for three quarter of the collected individuals. Both species are typical for open or disturbed areas. Rainforest remnants like those of Gurjaú within the predominant sugar cane monocultures in the coastal plains of the northern Atlantic Rainforest play an important role in orchid bee conservation and maintenance of biodiversity.Keywords: bees, conservation, biological diversity, Euglossini, Euglossa carolina, Eulaema nigrita. Duas espécies comuns dominam a rica fauna de Euglossini em um remanscente de Floresta Atlântica em Pernambuco, Brasil ResumoAtualmente, a porção norte da Floresta Atlântica brasileira está drasticamente destruída e os remanescentes florestais raramente excedem 100 hectares. Com uso de iscas odoríferas atrativas aos machos, amostramos a fauna de abelhas-das-orquídeas (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Euglossini) em um fragmento florestal de 118 ha na Reserva Ecológica de Gurjaú, Pernambuco. As abelhas foram ativamente coletadas com redes entomológicas por dois coletores, uma vez por mês, de novembro de 2002 a outubro de 2003. Coletamos 2908 machos de Euglossini pertencentes a 23 espécies, um dos mais altos valores de riqueza registrados para a Floresta Atlântica nordestina. Três quartos das abelhas coletadas pertenceram a apenas duas espécies, Euglossa carolina (50%) and Eulaema nigrita (25%), típicas de áreas abertas e perturbadas e ativas ao longo de todo ano. Remanescentes de floresta como os de Gurjaú, em meio às monoculturas de cana-de-açúcar, podem desempenhar um importante papel na conservação das abelhas-das-orquídeas em ambientes fragmentados como os da Mata Atlântica do nordeste do Brasil.

Rapid assessment of the orchid bee fauna (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Euglossini) in the vicinity of an urban Atlantic Forest remnant in São Paulo, Brazil

“…The most abundant species in both years was Euglossa cordata with 384 males (corresponding to 78.5% and 83.2% in 2015 and 2016, respectively), followed by Eulaema nigrita with 86 males (19.3% and 14.7% in 2015 and 2016, respectively) ( Table 1). Euglossa cordata and Eulaema nigrita were also the two-dominant species in the Santa Genebra forest in 2008 (Cordeiro et al, 2013) and in other Atlantic Forest fragments Gaglianone, 2008, 2012;Ramalho et al, 2009;Rocha-Filho and Garófalo, 2013;Oliveira et al, 2015). Both species are distributed throughout the Atlantic Forest (Garraffoni et al, 2017), and can be found in disturbed and fragmented areas as well as in open preserved areas (e.g., Viana and Kleinert, 2006;Ramalho et al, 2009;Aguiar and Gaglianone, 2012).…”

Orchid bees (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Euglossini) are seasonal in Seasonal Semideciduous Forest fragments, southern Brazil

“…violacea on Site A. Euglossa cordata was the most common species on site D1-2 and was also quite abundant on site B, but not on site A (only one specimen collected). These results show that there is no clear pattern of dominance on the local assemblages, unlike what occurs in different areas of Atlantic forest where a single or a few common species dominate the local faunas (e.g., Aguiar & Gaglianone, 2012;Oliveira et al, 2015). Besides the alleged existence of heterogeneity among samples of euglossine bees taken from nearby sites (Armbruster, 1993), this study was carried out towards the range limits of most species, where the populations are regarded to be highly fragmented (reviewed in Gaston, 2009).…”

A global review of urban pollinators and implications for maintaining pollination services in tropical cities

“…Moreover, most studies on "urban bees" in the tropics seem not to be carried out in heavily modified urban habitats, but on natural vegetation remnants or orchards surrounded by the urban matrix (e.g., Antonini et al 2013;Cândido et al 2018;Tangtorwongsakul et al 2018;Wayo et al 2020), in contrast to how studies are often conducted in temperate areas. Furthermore, many studies are faunal surveys of urban green areas (e.g., Nemésio and Silveira 2007;Gazola and Garófalo 2009;Nemésio and Silveira 2010;Aidar et al 2013;Viotti et al 2013;Oliveira et al 2015;Possamai et al 2017), not specifically assessing the effect of urbanization-related variables on bee communities. Therefore, more research specifically evaluating local and landscape characteristics needs to be conducted in tropical cities to understand the impacts of urbanization and to enhance the conservation value of cities for bees and other pollinators (Hernandez et al 2009).…”