The orchid-bee fauna (Hymenoptera: Apidae) of ‘RPPN Feliciano Miguel Abdala’ revisited: relevant changes in community composition

Abstract

The orchid-bee fauna of 'Reserva Particular do Patrimônio Natural Feliciano Miguel Abdala', a 957-ha preserve of Atlantic Forest in eastern Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil, was surveyed 12 years after the first inventory in the area. Orchid-bee males were actively collected with insect nets when attracted to seventeen chemical compounds used as scent baits. Three hundred and nineteen males belonging to nine species were collected during 40 hours in late December, 2011, when orchid bees are supposedly more active. Euglossa despecta Moure, 1968, one of the dominant species in the area 12 years ago, was not recorded in the present study. Eulaema nigrita Lepeletier, 1841, on the other hand, represented only 16% of the collected bees in 1999 and 61% in the present study. Possible causes and consequences of these changes are discussed.Keywords: Atlantic Forest, conservation, Euglossina, euglossine bees, Hexapoda. A fauna de abelhas-das-orquídeas (Hymenoptera: Apidae) da RPPN Feliciano Miguel Abdala revisitada: mudanças relevantes na composição da comunidade ResumoA fauna de abelhas-das-orquídeas da 'Reserva Particular do Patrimônio Natural Feliciano Miguel Abdala', uma reserva de 957 ha de Mata Atlântica no leste de Minas Gerais, sudeste do Brasil, foi amostrada doze anos após o primeiro inventário na área. Machos de abelhas euglossinas foram ativamente coletados com o uso de redes entomológicas quando atraídos a dezessete compostos aromáticos utilizados como iscas. Trezentos e dezenove machos pertencentes a nove espécies foram coletados durante 40 horas de amostragem no fim de dezembro de 2011, no período em que essas abelhas estão supostamente mais ativas. Euglossa despecta Moure, 1968, uma das espécies dominantes na área doze anos antes, não foi registrada no presente estudo. Eulaema nigrita Lepeletier, 1841, por outro lado, representou apenas 16% das abelhas coletadas em 1999 e 61% no presente estudo. As possíveis causas e consequências dessas mudanças são discutidas.

Is the “Centro de Endemismo Pernambuco” a biodiversity hotspot for orchid bees?

“…Roubik (2004a) had already suggested that surveys of orchid-bee males with scent baits during a single day have great utility, and may reveal almost as much about local community structure as studies lasting a full year. The protocol proposed by Nemésio (2010b) has already been used in more than twenty areas in northeastern Brazil (Nemésio, 2010b; this study), southern Bahia (Nemésio, 2011a(Nemésio, , 2013a, northern Espírito Santo (Nemésio, 2011b(Nemésio, , 2013b, Minas Gerais (Nemésio, 2012c;Nemésio and Paula, 2013), and the Peruvian Amazon (Nemésio et al, 2014), always with a high number of collected specimens during a relatively short period of time. With more than 3,000 bees collected in only ten days, the present study revealed one of the highest abundances ever recorded with this 20-hour sampling strategy, only rivalled by the regions of Monte Pascoal, in southern Bahia (Nemésio, 2013d), and Linhares, in northern Espírito Santo (Nemésio, 2013b).…”

Long-term ecology of orchid bees in an urban forest remnant

“…More important, once sampled, these areas are usually not sampled again so we do not know whether the seasonal pattern observed represents an annual trend of orchid-bee communities at those sites. Only recently, some areas have been re-sampled, with some strikingly different results-but obtained under different sampling protocols (see Nemésio 2013b;Nemésio and Paula 2013).…”

Effects of climate change and habitat loss on a forest‐dependent bee species in a tropical fragmented landscape

“…On the other hand, studies in the Neotropics suggest that the main drivers of pollinator decline are deforestation and climate change (e.g. Frankie et al, 2009;Nem esio, 2010aNem esio, , 2013bGiannini et al, 2012;Nem esio et al, 2012;Martins et al, 2013Martins et al, , 2015Nem esio & Paula, 2013).…”

“…Currently, more than 230 orchid bee species (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Euglossina) are recognised (Nem esio & Rasmussen, 2011) and their communities are richer and most diverse in humid Neotropical forests (Nem esio & Silveira, 2007). Some forest-dependent animal groups, such as the Neotropical orchid bees, may be facing population declines and even local extinctions, especially in the highly fragmented Atlantic Forest of eastern Brazil (Morato, 1994;Tonhasca et al, 2002;Nem esio & Silveira, 2006;Nem esio, 2010aNem esio, , 2011bNem esio, , 2013bNem esio & Paula, 2013). These bees are known to visit orchids and other flowers (reviewed by Dressler, 1982) for aromatic fragrances (Vogel, 1966) supposedly used in courtship behaviour (Eltz et al, 1999).…”