Abstract:-Stingless bees collect plant resins and make it into propolis, although they have a wider range of use for this material than do honey bees (Apis spp.). Plebeia spp. workers employ propolis mixed with wax (cerumen) for constructing and sealing nest structures, while they use viscous (sticky) propolis for defense by applying it onto their enemies. Isolated viscous propolis deposits are permanently maintained at the interior of their colonies, as also seen in other Meliponini species. Newly-emerged Plebeia emer… Show more
“…For some species, these caches serve as temporary storage where resins accumulate until they can be incorporated into other nest structures or used for defensive purposes (e.g., Trigona (Trigona) p. pallens [52]; Tetragonisca angustula (Latreille) and Plebeia spp. [29,50]). Unlike most resin, which hardens upon contact with air, deposit-resins remain viscous for a prolonged period of time.…”
Section: Nest Constructionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Alternatively, or additionally, the prolonged viscosity of deposit-resins could result from chemical processing. While definitive research on this topic is lacking, a comparative analysis of the morphology of head salivary glands and intramandibular glands of bees of various ages suggests that Plebeia emerina workers modify deposit-resins using secretions, which might help to maintain their viscosity [50].…”
Section: Nest Constructionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…It is possible that propolis produced by difference species and for different purposes could contain variable amounts of wax, and in some cases no wax at all, but this has yet to be verified. Deposit-resins, also referred to as resin deposits or viscous propolis deposits [10,49,50], are resin caches located on the nest floor or walls [51]. For some species, these caches serve as temporary storage where resins accumulate until they can be incorporated into other nest structures or used for defensive purposes (e.g., Trigona (Trigona) p. pallens [52]; Tetragonisca angustula (Latreille) and Plebeia spp.…”
Section: Nest Constructionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Once resin foragers return to the hive, they unload resin from their corbiculae on their own, or with the help of another worker [50,55,88]. The often brightly colored resin loads are mixed with wax to form cerumen, or incorporated into other nest structures.…”
Stingless bees (Meliponini) are highly social bees that are native to tropical and sub-tropical ecosystems. Resin use is vital to many aspects of stingless bee colony function. Stingless bees use resin to build essential nest structures, repel predators, and kill would-be invaders. Furthermore, resin-derived compounds have been found to enrich the cuticular chemical profiles of many stingless bee species, and resin may play an important role in shaping the microbial communities associated with stingless bees and their nests. Despite its importance for colony function, previous reviews of resin use by stingless bees are lacking. This topic grows increasingly urgent as changes in beekeeping and land use practices occur, potentially diminishing stingless bees’ ability to incorporate resin into the nest environment. In this article, we review existing literature on resin use by stingless bees and discuss potential areas of future research.
“…For some species, these caches serve as temporary storage where resins accumulate until they can be incorporated into other nest structures or used for defensive purposes (e.g., Trigona (Trigona) p. pallens [52]; Tetragonisca angustula (Latreille) and Plebeia spp. [29,50]). Unlike most resin, which hardens upon contact with air, deposit-resins remain viscous for a prolonged period of time.…”
Section: Nest Constructionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Alternatively, or additionally, the prolonged viscosity of deposit-resins could result from chemical processing. While definitive research on this topic is lacking, a comparative analysis of the morphology of head salivary glands and intramandibular glands of bees of various ages suggests that Plebeia emerina workers modify deposit-resins using secretions, which might help to maintain their viscosity [50].…”
Section: Nest Constructionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…It is possible that propolis produced by difference species and for different purposes could contain variable amounts of wax, and in some cases no wax at all, but this has yet to be verified. Deposit-resins, also referred to as resin deposits or viscous propolis deposits [10,49,50], are resin caches located on the nest floor or walls [51]. For some species, these caches serve as temporary storage where resins accumulate until they can be incorporated into other nest structures or used for defensive purposes (e.g., Trigona (Trigona) p. pallens [52]; Tetragonisca angustula (Latreille) and Plebeia spp.…”
Section: Nest Constructionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Once resin foragers return to the hive, they unload resin from their corbiculae on their own, or with the help of another worker [50,55,88]. The often brightly colored resin loads are mixed with wax to form cerumen, or incorporated into other nest structures.…”
Stingless bees (Meliponini) are highly social bees that are native to tropical and sub-tropical ecosystems. Resin use is vital to many aspects of stingless bee colony function. Stingless bees use resin to build essential nest structures, repel predators, and kill would-be invaders. Furthermore, resin-derived compounds have been found to enrich the cuticular chemical profiles of many stingless bee species, and resin may play an important role in shaping the microbial communities associated with stingless bees and their nests. Despite its importance for colony function, previous reviews of resin use by stingless bees are lacking. This topic grows increasingly urgent as changes in beekeeping and land use practices occur, potentially diminishing stingless bees’ ability to incorporate resin into the nest environment. In this article, we review existing literature on resin use by stingless bees and discuss potential areas of future research.
“…This labor division is called age polyethism and corresponds to task switching according to individual age. Age polyethism is relatively common in social insects (Kolmes, 1986), including bees (Santos et al, 2010), termites (Yanagihara et al, 2018), and ants (Santana Vieira et al, 2010). Generally, younger individuals perform safer tasks inside the nest, while older workers perform riskier tasks outside, as the latter are "less valuable" to the colony (Santana Vieira et al, 2010).…”
This study aimed to verify age polyethism occurrence in medium-sized (cephalic capsule = 2.3 ± 0.21 mm) and small-sized (cc = 1.4 ± 0.10 mm) workers from Atta sexdens (Linnaeus) colonies. Four laboratory colonies were used, and they were maintained at 25 ± 2 °C, with 75 ± 3% relative humidity and a 12-hour photoperiod. Workers from these colonies were marked after their emergence and observed throughout their lifetime to determine which tasks they performed. The number of ants performing each activity was analyzed using linear mixed-effect models (LME), considering the temporal effect and the block design (colonies). We found that fungal garden maintenance tasks were frequent for both sizes, but their occurrence decreased significantly from the ninth week. The foraging activity occurred gradually in both sizes, with stabilization in the number of workers from the fourth week onwards and declined in the last three weeks of lifespan. Waste management tasks occurred throughout life but were more frequent during the first two weeks of life, in both medium and small workers. Therefore, age polyethism may be related to all activities; however, foraging tasks presented a distinct pattern compared to tasks in the fungus garden and refuse dump, where younger ants were more frequently observed.
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