Influence of seasonal changes in daily activity and annual life cycle of Geotrigona mombuca (Hymenoptera, Apidae) in a Cerrado habitat, São Paulo, Brazil

Abstract

ABSTRACT. The foraging activity of Geotrigona mombuca Smith, 1863 was studied under natural conditions aiming to verify the influence of seasonal changes on daily flight activity and annual cycle of the colony. Daily flight activity was monitored for a year based on the observation and counting of foragers leaving and entering the hive, as well as the kind of material transported and meteorological factors such as day time, temperature and relative humidity. The influence of seasonal changes was evidenced by alterations on daily rhythm of flight activity and by differences on transportation of food resources, building material and garbage. These data indicate that forager behavior is related to daily microclimate conditions and it is synchronized with the requirements of colony annual cycle, which determines an intense pollen collection in the summer. Thus, the recomposition of the intranidal population in spring and summer can be ensured, which is characterized both for a higher intensity of flight activity and increase in garbage and resin transport, as well as the swarming process in the spring. In this way, an action targeting the preservation or management of the species in a natural environment should consider that survival and reproduction of the colony depends greatly on the amount of available pollen in late winter. KEYWORDS.Meteorological factors, daily activity, seasonality, floral resources.RESUMO. Influência das mudanças sazonais na atividade diária e no ciclo de vida anual de Geotrigona mombuca (Hymenoptera, Apidae) em hábitat de cerrado, São Paulo, Brasil. A atividade de forrageamento de Geotrigona mombuca Smith, 1863 foi estudada em condições naturais com o objetivo de verificar a influência das mudanças sazonais na atividade diária e no ciclo anual da colônia. A atividade diária de voo foi monitorada, durante um ano, através de contagens de campeiras observadas saindo e entrando na colmeia e o tipo de material transportado, juntamente com os fatores meteorológicos hora do dia, temperatura e umidade relativa do ar. A influência das mudanças sazonais foi constatada pela alteração do ritmo diário da atividade de voo e pelas diferenças no transporte de recursos alimentares, material de construção e de resíduos. Esses dados evidenciam que o comportamento das campeiras está relacionado às condições microclimáticas diárias e sincronizadas com as exigências do ciclo anual da colônia, o qual determina uma intensa coleta de pólen no verão, garantindo a recomposição da população intranidal na primavera e verão, caracterizada tanto pela maior intensidade de atividadede de voo como pelo aumento do transporte de resina e lixo, e enxameagem na primavera. Desse modo, ações direcionadas para a preservação da espécie em ambiente natural ou para o manejo devem considerar que a sobrevivência e reprodução da colônia depende muito da quantidade de pólen disponível no final do inverno.PAlAvRAS-CHAvE. Fatores meteorológicos, atividade diária, sazonalidade, recursos florais.

Foraging pattern and harvesting of resources of subterranean stingless bee Geotrigona subterranea (Friese, 1901) (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Meliponini)

“…The foraging activity of subterranean stingless bees seem indeed to be affected by climatic factors. For example, the sister species G. mombuca also has been observed to be affected by temperature and relative humidity (Gobatto & Knoll, 2013). Most likely both subterranean stingless bee species (G. mombuca and G. subterranea) possess similar foraging pattern not only because they are taxonomically closely related each other, but because their populations inhabit similar natural environments.…”

“…This aspect can be seen in flight activity studies of relatively large species of Melipona, as M. quadrifasciata (Guibu & Imperatriz Fonseca, 1984), M. bicolor bicolor (Hilário et al, 2000), M. scutellaris (Pierrot & Schindwein, 2003;Silva et al, 2011), M. rufiventris (Fidalgo & Kleinert, 2007), M. eburnea (Nates-Parra & Rodriguez, 2011). However other small species of stingless bees, including smaller Melipona presented other pattern of foraging, it is the case of M. marginata (Kleinert-Giovannini & Imperatriz-Fonseca, 1986;Von B Borges & Blochtein, 2005), M. asilvai (Souza et al, 2006), Geotrigona mombuca (Gobatto & Knoll, 2013), Paratrigona subnuda (Mouga, 1984). It is possible that smaller species of Meliponini use floral resources after they have been exploited by larger bees (Silva et al, 2011).…”

Environmental conditions and bee foraging on watermelon crops in Panama

“…It has been suggested that humidity can change foraging patterns in some bees, such as A. mellifera (Alves et al 2015), Megachilid bees (Abrol 1998), and some stingless bees, such as Plebeia (Kleinert-Giovannini 1982), Tetragonisca (Iwama 1977), Trigona (Contrera et al 2004;Soares et al 2019), Geotrigona (Gobatto and Knoll 2013), Lepidotrigona (Sung et al 2011) and Melipona (Hilário et al 2000;Guibu andImperatriz-Fonseca 1984, Fidalgo andKleinert 2007). In some of these cases, foraging behavior tended to be inversely proportional to relative humidity.…”