Community of male Euglossini bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in a secondary forest, Alcântara, MA, Brazil

Abstract

From September, 92 to August, 93 bee sampling was done in a secondary forest near the Pepital River, in Alcântara, MA, in order to study the local Euglossini fauna. Five aromatic compounds were used: eucaliptol, eugenol, methyl salicylate, vanillin, and benzoate. Four hundred sixty-seven male Euglossini bees were captured, distributed in 4 genus and 19 species. Euglossa was the most abundant and with high diversity (302 specimens and 14 species), followed by Eulaema (121; 3), Eufriesea (41; 1), and Exaerete (3; 1). The species which more frequently visited the bait were Euglossa piliventris (141 specimens; 30.19%), Euglossa cingulata (113; 24.21%), Euglossa ignita (45; 9.64%), Eufrieseapulchra (41; 8.78%), and Euglossa gaianii (33; 7.07%) corresponding to 79.88% of the sampling universe. The bees were active throughout the year, however during the rainy season more activity and diversity were observed. The most attractive essence was eucaliptol (44.32% specimens and 84.21% species). In spite of this study having been done in a forest fragment, a secondary vegetation area smaller than other areas studied in Maranhão, it showed a significant diversity rate. This result reinforces the importance of fragments in the conservation of local bee communities.

Riqueza, abundância e diversidade de Euglossina (Hymenoptera, Apidae) em três áreas da Reserva Biológica Guaribas, Paraíba, Brasil

“…Estudos realizados em áreas da Amazônica ou sob sua influência apresentaram mais de 30 espécies. BRITO & REGO (2001) coletaram 19 espécies em uma área de floresta secundária no Maranhão, com influência da vegetação amazônica.…”

Diversity and distribution of orchid bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae) with a revised checklist of species

“…Data from all other sites employed in our study pertain to understory orchid bee fauna. The selected studies were: Janzen et al (1982) and Ackerman (1983), for Evergreen Tropical Forests in Central America; Pearson & Dressler (1985), Becker et al (1991), Morato et al (1992), and Oliveira & Campos (1996), for the Amazonian Forest; Wittmann et al (1988) for the Subtropical Atlantic Forest of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil; Rebêlo & Garófalo (1991, 1997, for the semideciduous Atlantic Forest of northeastern region of the state of São Paulo, Brazil; Bonilla-Gómez (1999) Nemésio & Silveira (2006) for a large remnant of semi-deciduous Atlantic Forest, the Parque Estadual do Rio Doce, Eastern Minas Gerais, Brazil ;Tonhasca Jr. et al (2002) for the Atlantic Rain Forest of the Desengano region, state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Bezerra & Martins (2001), for the Atlantic Rain Forest of the state of Paraíba, Brazil; Neves & Viana (1997) for a mangrove area in southern state of Bahia, Brazil; Neves & Viana (1999) for a gallery forest immersed in a caatinga matrix in northern Bahia, Brazil; Rebêlo & Cabral (1997) for a western coastal lowland zone in the state of Maranhão, Brazil; Silva & Rebêlo (1999) for Amazonia in the state of Maranhão, Brazil; Silva & Rebêlo (2002) for Cajual Island, Maranhão, Brazil;and Brito & Rêgo (2001) for a secondary forest in Alcântara, Maranhão, Brazil (see Fig. 1 for exact localization of the areas and Table 1 for acronyms used in this paper).…”

Preliminary study of insect attraction by a mixture of semiochemicals containing 1,2,4-Trimethoxybenzene in domestic citric-culture

“…Without specifically trying to collect pollen, they are able to secure pollination of species of Caesalpiniaceae, Maranthaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Araceae, Gesneriaceae, Bignoniaceae, Orchidaceae and others. 15 They are known as orchid bees.…”

“…The use of these essences is not so well understood, but they may be used as a sexual attractant. 15 Euglossine bees are described as a group of brightly colored tropical insects. Many species are green, blue, purple, gold, or red.…”