Population dynamics of Euglossinae bees (Hymenoptera, Apidae) in an early second-growth forest of Cajual Island, in the State of Maranhão, Brazil

Abstract

A study was conducted in an early second-growth forest aiming at knowing the richness, relative abundance, seasonal distribution, and hourly frequency of euglossine bees, and their association with scent baits. Male bees were attracted to cineole, vanillin, methyl salicylate, and eugenol. The baits were hooked 1.5 m high and 6 m from one another. The specimens were collected from December 1997 to November 1998, once a month, from 7:00 to 17:00 h. A total of 339 male euglossine bees were caught, accounting for 19 species and four genera. The most common species was E. cordata, making up 69.9% of the individuals, followed by E. truncata (2.3%), E. violaceifrons, and E. smaragdina (2.1%). The most attractive scent was cineole, which baited 87% of the specimens and 73.7% of the species. Vanillin, the second most visited bait, eured 7.6% of the specimens and 26.3% of the species. E. surinamensis was only collected with this bait. Methyl salicylate and eugenol baited combined 2.6% of the specimens. However, by species numbers Methyl salicylate attracted 21% whereas eugenol was attractive for 15.8% of them. In general, the species were more abundantly found in the rainy season (January-June). The hourly activity data showed that the euglossine bees were attracted to the baits all day long, but at a higher frequency in the morning period, peaking between 8:00 and 10:00 h.

Comunidade de abelhas euglossina (Hymenoptera: Apidae) em remanescentes de mata estacional semidecidual sobre tabuleiro no estado do Rio de Janeiro

“…Euglossa cordata e Eulaema nigrita têm sido sugeridas como espécies indicadoras de ambientes secos e alterados (Peruquetti et al 1999, Silva & Rebêlo 2002, Tonhasca et al 2002, hipótese aceita neste trabalho, visto que as abundâncias dessas espécies foram muito superiores nas áreas mais perturbadas. Porém, para Euglossa cordata dois fatores devem ser considerados; 1 -A espécie também é abundante em áreas consideradas preservadas como foi visto neste estudo e também por Tonhasca et al (2002) e 2 -A difi culdade de identifi cação taxonômica de várias espécies de Euglossa, gênero ainda sem revisão taxonômica, pode estar difi cultando a identifi cação correta dentro de complexos de espécies, o que pode estar acontecendo com Euglossa cordata (Dressler 1982b).…”

Composição e sazonalidade de espécies de Euglossina (Hymenoptera: Apidae) em mata e duna na Área de Proteção Ambiental da Barra do Rio Mamanguape, Rio Tinto, PB

“…Rebêlo & Cabral (1997), Brito & Rêgo (2001), Silva & Rebêlo (2002) e Viana et al (2002) observaram maior atividade dos machos na estação chuvosa; Neves & Viana (1999) nos meses mais secos. Entretanto, Neves & Viana (1997) e Bezerra & Martins (2001) observaram correlação apenas com a variação térmica, apesar da ocorrência de grande atividade nos períodos mais secos.…”

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

“…cordata, on the other hand, seem to be best adapted to drier, illuminated environments (e.g. Morato et al 1992, Silva & Rebêlo 2002, Tonhasca Jr. et al 2002, Nemésio 2004). It should be noted that many of these latter species are the same found in the cerrado (Nemésio & Faria Jr. 2004), the savannic vegetation that covers central Brazil.…”