Bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) and flowers in natural forest patches of southern Pantanal

Abstract

This is the first systematic survey of bees in the Pantanal wetland, Brazil. We recorded bee species and their floral resources within grassland and natural forest edge habitats in the Pantanal. Surveys were conducted during two to four-days per month, for a total of 12 months. Overall, we recorded 56 bee species visiting a total of 63 flowering plants. Asteraceae and Fabaceae presented the highest number of visited species, however Hyptis suaveolens (Lamiaceae) was the plant most visited by different bee species (18). The most generalist native bee was Trigona fuscipennis visiting a total of 17 flowering plant species. Apis mellifera , an exotic bee, visited 27 species. We also report the overlap (37.5%) in the use of floral resources between the exotic bee Apis mellifera and native bee species. Our updated bee checklist here presented includes 10 new records for the State of Mato Grosso do Sul. These data will support management strategies targeting the conservation of plant-pollinator interactions in the Pantanal ecosystem. Resumo: Esta é a primeira amostragem sistemática de abelhas realizada no Pantanal, Brasil. Nós coletamos espécies de abelhas bem como as plantas que utilizaram como recurso floral em áreas de pastagens naturais e bordas de áreas florestadas. As coletas foram conduzidas durante dois a quatro dias a cada mês, durante 12 meses. Foram registradas 56 espécies de abelhas visitando um total de 63 espécies de plantas. As famílias Asteraceae e Fabaceae apresentaram o maior numero de espécies visitadas, entretanto Hyptis suaveolens (Lamiaceae) foi a espécie visitada pelo maior número de espécies diferentes de abelhas (18). A abelha nativa mais generalista encontrada foi Trigona fuscipennis , que visitou 17 espécies de plantas. Apis mellifera , uma espécie exótica, visitou 27 espécies. Reportamos também a sobreposição (37,5%) no uso de recursos florais entre A. mellifera e espécies de abelhas nativas. A listagem de abelhas aqui apresentada inclui 10 espécies ainda não mencionadas para o estado de Mato Grosso do Sul. Esses dados apoiarão estratégias de manejo focadas na conservação das interações entre plantas e polinizadores no ecossistema Pantanal. Palavras-chave: abelhas, visitantes florais, fragmentos florestais, inventários. 47Bees and flowers of southern Pantanal

Ants climb plants because they cannot swim: ant presence on flowers during the flood season reduces the frequency of floral visitors

“…Certainly, there is a combination of effects caused by the flood season that act on insect‐plant interactions, including elimination of flood‐intolerant species (Boff et al ., 2013), composition of large insect groups and natural history characteristics (Aranda & Aoki, 2018). Although the ant community is less diversified in flooded areas during the rainy season, ants depend on a large plant assembly to maintain their foraging activity (Pereira et al ., 2013).…”

Reproductive biology and pollination ecology of Triplaris gardneriana (Polygonaceae): a case of ambophily in the Brazilian Chaco

“…On the other hand, the exotic species A. mellifera is a generalist visitor and pollinator of a large number of species with a wide range of floral types, and in diverse habitats (Machado & Sazima ; Boff et al . , ; Yamamoto et al . ).…”

Disentangling the path of pollinator attraction in temporarily colored flowers

“…Flower production starts during the dry season in August and lasts until the beginning of the wet season in January (Pott and Pott 1994). The plant produces scents (Pino et al 2011), that seem to be attractive to a large set of insects, especially to bees (Pott and Pott 1994;Boff et al 2013).…”