Biology and Immature Stages of the Bee Tribe Tetrapediini (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

Abstract

Tetrapedia diversipes Klug is herein reported for the first time to be the host of the cleptoparasite Coelioxoides waltheriae Ducke. Because these two genera had been previously recognized as sister taxa [A. Roig-Alsina. 1990. Coelioxoides Cresson, a parasitic genus of Tetrapediini (Hymenoptera: Apoidea). Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society 63: 279-287], the authors wished to learn to what extent biological information and immature stages reflected this relationship. Tetrapedia diversipes normally nests in holes in wood such as old beetle burrows, and it was induced to use trap nests for this study. Many aspects of the nesting behavior of females of this species are described, including the following: diurnal flight period; sleeping habits; nest structure; nest provisioning; egg placement; and sequence of nest construction, provisioning, and oviposition. Eggs produced by this species are categorized as ''giant'' (K. Iwata and S.F. Sakagami. 1966. Gigantism and dwarfism in bee eggs in relation to the mode of life, with notes on the number of ovarioles. Japanese Journal of Ecology 16: 4-16). Its first instar was discovered to be pharate within the chorion while the following four instars actively feed. Defecation starts early in the last larval stadium. Females use floral oils both in nest construction and in provisioning, and they carry pollen, oil, and soil with their scopae. The biology of T. diversipes was compared with that of other species in the genus and then compared with that of other apines that are known to nest in preformed cavities and that provision nests with pollen and floral oils. The host-nest searching behavior of Coelioxoides waltheriae is described. The cleptoparasite introduces its egg into the closed cell of the host shortly after cell closure. This egg is characterized as ''small'' (Iwata and Sakagami, ibid.) and has a very short incubation period. The highly modified first instar immediately feeds on the host egg and grows remarkably fast on the host yolk. This species has only four instars. Rates of development of the host and cleptoparasite are compared. Both have four ovarioles per ovary. Eggs, first instars, last larval instars, and pupae of host and cleptoparasite are taxonomically described and compared. In conclusion, the immatures of Coelioxoides and Tetrapedia are quite distinct from those of other known apids. While these two genera are probably sister genera based on the similarities identified by Roig-Alsina (op. cit.) and by this study, they are quite different from one another based on features of the eggs, first instars, and pupae. Recent issues of the Novitates may be purchased from the Museum. Lists of back issues of the Novitates and Bulletin published during the last five years are available at World

Nesting and use of pollen resources by Tetrapedia diversipes Klug (Apidae) in Atlantic Forest areas (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) in different stages of regeneration

“…Even though this result did not occur in the secondary forest area, the period with the highest nesting and emergence of T. diversipes also corresponded to the months of the hot wet season. These data agree with findings in other regions about T. diversipes seasonality in forest trap-nests (Alves-dos- Santos et al 2002;Alves-dos-Santos 2003). The authors reported that, in urban forest areas in São Paulo, adult females were observed to nest in the wet season, with peaks of activity from November to December and March to April (Alves-dos-Santos 2003).…”

“…The authors reported that, in urban forest areas in São Paulo, adult females were observed to nest in the wet season, with peaks of activity from November to December and March to April (Alves-dos-Santos 2003). During the cold dry season (between June and August) bees from this species were in diapause at a mature larval stage (Alves-dos- Santos et al 2002). Therefore, it was observed that despite climatic differences with the area of the present study, including the less pronounced seasonality and higher median temperatures of the latter, T. diversipes presented a seasonal pattern similar to that observed in areas further south in Atlantic Forest in the state of São Paulo.…”

“…The analysis of cell pollen content showed that most of the plants observed in bloom in this area during the T. diversipes nesting period were not used by these bees to feed the larvae. However, the high abundance of Byrsonima sericea DC (Malpighiaceae) in the eucalyptus area (Evaristo 2008) may have been attractive to this species since floral oils are necessary to build the nest cells (Alves-dos-Santos et al 2002). Nevertheless, there was a low frequency of pollen grains from this plant in larval food samples, and a low frequency of T. diversipes females has been observed foraging in B. sericea flowers (Menezes & Gaglianone unpubl.…”

Small-scale area effect on species richness and nesting occupancy of cavity-nesting bees and wasps

“…Their use improves biological data acquisition on species that build their nests on pre-existing cavities (Koerber & Medler 1958). Some studies used these species to evaluate the impact of parasite action (Scott et al 2000) and also to describe nest building process and structure (Camillo et al 1993;Pereira et al 1999;Alves dos Santos et al 2002;Loyola & Martins 2006).…”

Females of Tapinotaspoides, a genus in the oil-collecting bee tribe Tapinotaspidini, collect secretions from non-floral trichomes (Hymenoptera, Apidae)

“…and once in each of the ancestral lineages that gave rise to the apine tribes Tetrapediini, Ctenoplectrini, Centridini and Tapinotaspidini (Michener 2000;Roig-Alsina 1997). As few as three independent origins might exist, since sister group relationships between either Tapinotaspidini and Ctenoplectrini or Tetrapediini and Ctenoplectrini have been suggested by, respectively, Roig-Alsina & Michener (1993) and Alves-dos-Santos et al (2002). It has been shown for some of these groups that the females also use the floral oils as nesting material [see Alves-dos-Santos et al (2002) for Tetrapediini, Buchmann (1987) for Centridini, and Cane et al (1983) for Macropis.…”