Foraging behavior of bee pollinators on the tropical weed Triumfetta semitriloba: flight distance and directionality

Abstract

We studied flight distance and directionality of bee pollinators on the tropical shrub weed Triumfetta semitriloba Jacq. (Tiliaceae), addressing (1) within-and between-plant movement pattern; (2) distances flown between plants; (3) flight directionality. Flowering plants were distributed in well-delimited clumps, in each of two pasture areas (A1 and A2) and one area of forest gap (A3), in Viçosa, southeastern Brazil. Five solitary bee species, Augochlorella michaelis, Augochloropsis cupreola, Pseudocentron paulistana, Ceratinula sp., Melissodes sexcincta, and two social bee, Plebeia droryana, P. cf. nigriceps were observed. All species moved mainly to the nearest flower on the same individual plant and, in between-plant movements, to the first or second nearest neighbor. All species moved non-randomly, presenting a flight directionality in departures (maintenance of flight direction), but with a high frequency of turn angles. It is suggested that this foraging behavior pattern occurred because of the resource quantity and quality (pollen or nectar), and environmental characteristics such as flower density and resource distribution.Key words: foraging behaviour, directionality, pollination, flight distance, solitary bees. RESUMO Comportamento de forrageamento das abelhas polinizadoras da planta invasoraTriumfetta semitriloba: distância de vôo e direcionalidade Estudamos a distância de vôo e a direcionalidade de abelhas polinizadoras da planta invasora Triumfetta semitriloba Jacq. (Tiliaceae), sobre os seguintes aspectos: (1) padrão de movimentação dentro e entre plantas; (2) distância de vôo entre plantas; (3) direcionalidade de vôo. As plantas floridas eram distribuídas em manchas bem delimitadas, em duas áreas de pasto (A1 e A2) e uma área de clareira de mata (A3), em Viçosa, MG, Sudeste do Brasil. Foram observadas cinco espécies de abelhas solitárias, Augochlorella michaelis, Augochloropsis cupreola, Pseudocentron paulistana, Ceratinula sp., Melissodes sexcincta e duas espécies sociais, Plebeia droryana, P. cf. nigriceps. Todas as espécies moveram principalmente para a flor mais próxima, dentro da mesma planta e, nos movimentos entre plantas, para o primeiro ou segundo vizinho mais próximo. Todas as espécies apresentaram uma direcionalidade no padrão de vôo, ou seja, uma movimentação não aleatória, mas com uma alta freqüência de ângulos laterais. Sugere-se que esse padrão de comportamento de forrageamento ocorreu devido à qualidade e quantidade de recurso (pólen ou néctar) e às características ambientais como a densidade de flores e distribuição do recurso nas manchas.Palavras-chave: comportamento de forrageamento, direcionalidade, polinização, distância de vôo, abelhas solitárias.

Putting your eggs in several baskets: oviposition in a wasp that walks between several figs

“…This is consistent with a previous study of this fig (Moore et al, 2003b). Similar 'nearest neighbour' approaches to floral visitation have also been seen in unrelated pollinating insects including five solitary bee and two social bee species (Collevatti et al, 2000). (Ramirez, 1970;Janzen, 1979).…”

“…Our results showed that after re-emerging, K. tentacularis foundresses (that are then wingless) could re-enter and oviposit in up to four further receptive figs and that they tended to enter the first receptive figs they encountered. Similar 'nearest neighbour' approaches to floral visitation have also been seen in unrelated pollinating insects including five solitary bee and two social bee species (Collevatti et al, 2000). Similar 'nearest neighbour' approaches to floral visitation have also been seen in unrelated pollinating insects including five solitary bee and two social bee species (Collevatti et al, 2000).…”

Biologia floral e da polinização de quatro espécies de Eugenia L. (Myrtaceae)

“…Os principais visitantes florais de Eugenia uniflora, E. neonitida, E. punicifolia e E. rotundifolia, que são abelhas de pequeno porte e moscas, apresentam uma amplitude forrageira baixa, comportamento que pode vir a diminuir o fluxo gênico entre as populações vegetais, diferentemente do que acontece com grandes polinizadores, como abelhas de grande porte, pássaros e mamíferos que podem carregar o pólen por longas distâncias (Collevatti et al 2000;Latouche-Hallé et al 2004).…”

Flower colour variation across a hybrid zone in Antirrhinum as perceived by bumblebee pollinators

“…Such pattern of variation could, in principle, favour generalization to all phenotypes by pollinators and prevent populations from maintaining their differences owing to increased gene flow. However, insect pollinators only perceive colours at relatively small spatial distances (Giurfa et al 1996;Dyer et al 2008) and move mostly between neighbouring plants (Waser 1982;Collevatti et al 2000;Saleh and Chittka 2007), which implies that they perceive colour variation only at a very local scale. Therefore, there may be discontinuous transitions at spatial scales that are biologically meaningful for pollinators even if flower colour variation seems continuous when considering all the plants of the hybrid zone together.…”