Trigona corvina: An Ecological Study Based on Unusual Nest Structure and Pollen Analysis

Abstract

We found that the nest ofTrigona corvina(Apidae; Meliponini) consists mainly of pollen exines from bee excrement, forming a scutellum shield encasing the colony. A 20-year-old nest (1980–2000) from a lowland Panama forested habitat was sawed in half longitudinally, and a 95 cm transect was systematically sampled each 5 cm. Samples subjected to detailed pollen analysis held 72 botanical species belonging to 65 genera in 41 families. Over 90% of scutellum pollen volume was Cecropiaceae and Arecaceae, among grains. Potentially the oldest samples, in the middle of the nest, indicate that Mimosoideae, Euphorbiaceae, and Bombacaceae (now Malvaceae) were lost when Africanized honey bee competitors colonized Panama in 1984.Cecropiadeposited in the nest increased markedly after landscape-level vegetation disturbance. Pollen fromCavanillesiademonstrated that the foraging range encompassed 3 and perhaps 500 plant species.Trigona corvinaprimarily foraged on plants with large inflorescences, consistent with foraging theory considering their aggressive behavior.

Genes versus environment: geography and phylogenetic relationships shape the chemical profiles of stingless bees on a global scale

“…The likely subsequent transfer of these compounds to their body surfaces, which results in an increased chemical diversity, may thus represent an additional advantage of those species that are capable of doing so, which may explain why it was lost only once (in T. corvina). Trigona corvina is unique among the species sampled in our study in that it has entirely exposed nests that are located on tree branches and consist mainly of pollen exines from bee excrements and not of a mixture of wax and resin [61,62]. Their unique nesting behaviour and highly aggressive nest defence may explain why they do not rely on resin and hence resin-derived compounds.…”

Melissopalynological records of honeys fromTetragonisca angustula(Latreille, 1811) in the Lower Amazon, Brazil: pollen spectra and concentration

“…A few studies have focused on the use of exotic markers to assess the concentration of pollen grains in honey samples. Most studies have focused on the analysis of honey from Apis mellifera L., 1758 (Andrada, Valle, Aramayo, Lamberto, & Cantamutto, 1998;Caccavari & Fagúndez, 2010;Jones & Bryant, 1996, 2001Moar, 1985;Ramírez-Arriaga et al, 2011), and few have been based on honey from stingless bees (Apidae, Meliponini) (Ramírez-Arriaga & Martínez-Hernández, 2007;Roubik & Moreno, 2009;Sosa-Nájera, Martínez-Henández, Lozano-García, & Cuadriello-Aguiar, 1994).…”

The Stingless Bee Fauna In Brazil (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

“…Camargo, 2008Camargo, , 2013, including cleptobiosis (Nogueira-Neto, 1970), necrophagy (Camargo & Roubik, 1991), mutualistic association with coccids (Camargo & Pedro, 2002) and yeast (Camargo & Pedro, 2004), as well as other associations yet poorly studied, such as for Trichotrigona (Camargo & Pedro, 2007b). The diversity of architectural solutions and use of different substrates, even including gigantic nests of aggressive bees of the genus Trigona, made from the bees' own pollen feces (Roubik & Moreno, 2009), and association with nests of other organisms such as ants, wasps, termites and birds to construct their nests is impressive (e.g. Rasmussen & Camargo, 2008; and compilation by Roubik, 2006).…”