As abelhas eussociais (Hymenoptera, Apidae) visitantes florais em um ecossistema de dunas continentais no médio Rio São Francisco, Bahia, Brasil

Abstract

Revista Brasileira de Entomologia 46(4): 571-57831. XII.2002 As abelhas eussociais (Hymenoptera, Apidae) visitantes florais em um ecossistema de dunas continentais no médio Rio São Francisco, Bahia, Brasil The diversity was H´ = 1.53 and the evenness E´ = 0.73. The bees were active during the whole year, but there was a significant variation in the monthly abundance of individuals (χ 2 = 799.55; df= 35; p<0.0001). The daily activity was greater between 6:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m. The low bee diversity observed is a consequence of the low richness of botanical species and of the small amount of sites for the bees' nests. The community of highly eusocial bees from the dunes presents organization patterns similar to those observed in other caatinga areas, albeit with some particularities.

Utilization of floral resources by bees of the Genus Frieseomelitta von Ihering (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

“…The caatinga ecosystem presented the greatest richness of Frieseomelitta due to the ease of collection and to its representativity in areas such as Milagres (Castro 2001) and Ibiraba, BA (Neves & Viana 2002), where the genus stood out in number of species, when compared with other genera of eusocial bees.…”

“…In the present study, individuals of Frieseomelitta visited species belonging to Caesalpiniaceae in all caatinga areas [Ibiraba, BA (Neves & Viana 2002), São João do Cariri, PB (Aguiar & Martins 1997), Nova Casa Nova, BA (Castro 1994, Martins 1994, and Milagres, BA (Castro 2001)], with a relatively high abundance in Ibiraba, BA (Neves & Viana 2002) and São João do Cariri, PB (Aguiar & Martins 1997), what reinforces the great importance of this resource in the caatinga areas studied.…”

Diversity in bee (Hymenoptera: apoidea) and social wasp (Hymenoptera: Vespidae, Polistinae) community in "Campos Rupestres", Bahia, Brazil

“…They stay active during the whole year and also store food to maintain the colony in periods of food shortage. Although their individuals are small and present low biomass, they constitute nests with great number of workers, being responsible for most of the biomass of the Martins 1994, Faria & Camargo 1996, Viana et al 1997, and also in other Brazilian ecosystems (Martins 1994, Neves & Viana 2002, Aguiar 2003. Finally, some authors consider, especially among insects, that species with numerous populations with low biomass per individual could present smaller extinction rates and could support population fluctuations (Varley & Gradwell 1970 In most studies, Bombus species do not use to be dominant because of the small number of collected animals (Martins 1994, Aguiar & Martins 1997, Aguiar 2003.…”

“…However, qualitative and quantitative comparisons of studied faunas that used similar methodologies can supply information about possible richness and abundance patterns for communities from the same ecosystem type, ecotone zones or different ecosystems (Silveira & Campos 1995, Viana et al 1997, Neves & Viana 2002). …”

“…Few authors compare the results obtained from similar methodology, attempting to detect faunistic patterns among communities from the same ecosystem or between different ecosystems (Silveira & Campos 1995, Neves & Viana 2002.…”