<b>Pollen spectrum of the honey of uruçu bee (<i>Melipona scutellaris</i> Latreille, 1811) (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in the North Coast of Bahia State

Abstract

ABSTRACT.Regional-level studies of floral resources used by social bees for honey production can contribute to the improvement of management strategies for bee pastures and colonies, by identifying the most visited flowers and thus characterizing the various geographical origins of honey. The objective of this study was to investigate, through pollen analysis, the types of pollen and nectar sources used by the uruçu bee (Melipona scutellaris L.) in the North Coast of Bahia. Honey samples were taken monthly from five colonies in an apiary from August 2010 to July 2011. Pollen analysis of honey was performed by using the acetolysis method, followed by qualitative and quantitative analysis of pollen grains. Fifty pollen types belonging to 40 genera and 17 families were identified. The results indicate predominance of pollen types belonging to the families Fabaceae and Myrtaceae, which suggests that the bees preferred foraging from trees and shrubs. These plants should be included in regional reforestation projects in order to improve management of this bee species and honey production.Keywords: stingless bees, Meliponinae, pollen collection, Atlantic Forest, trophic niche.Espectro polínico do mel da abelha de uruçu (Melipona scutellaris Latreille, 1811) (Hymenoptera: Apidae) do Litoral Norte do estado da Bahia RESUMO: Estudos em nível regional dos recursos florísticos utilizados por abelhas sociais para a produção de mel podem contribuir para a melhoria das estratégias de manejo do pasto meliponícola e das colônias, através da identificação das flores mais visitadas, e dessa forma caracterizar a origem geográfica do mel. O objetivo desta pesquisa foi investigar, por meio da análise polínica, os tipos de vegetação fornecedora de néctar e pólen para a abelha uruçu (Melipona scutellaris L.) no Litoral Norte da Bahia. Foram realizadas coletas quinzenais em 5 colônias de meliponário, de agosto de 2010 a julho de 2011. A análise polínica do mel foi conduzida através do método da acetólise, seguida por análise quali-quantitativa dos grãos de pólen. Foram identificados 50 tipos polínicos pertencentes a 40 gêneros e 17 famílias. Os resultados apontam para a dominância dos tipos polínicos pertencentes às famílias Fabaceae e Myrtaceae, sugerindo que essas abelhas preferem forragear em árvores e arbustos. Esses tipos vegetais predominantes devem ser incluídos nos projetos regionais de reflorestamento, visando favorecer o manejo dessa espécie de abelha e melhorar a produção de mel.Palavras-chave: abelhas sem ferrão, Meliponinae, coleta de pólen, Mata Atlântica, nicho trófico.

Pollen Spectrum and Trophic Niche Width of Melipona scutellaris Latreille, 1811 (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in Highly Urbanized and Industrialized Sites

“…According to Dórea et al (2017), Solanaceae species are frequently found in urban areas, and are used as pollen sources by solitary and social bees. Pollen types Solanum and S. paniculatum have also been found in the pollen spectrum of Meliponini honey in recent studies, such as Barth et al (2013), Nascimento et al (2015), Souza et al (2015) as well as Matos and Santos (2017).…”

“…The families Anacardiaceae, Arecaceae, Euphorbiaceae and Fabaceae were the most representative in our study. Other authors (Oliveira et al, 2009;Ferreira & Absy, 2015;Souza et al, 2015;Matos & Santos, 2017) have also reported that species of these plant groups are important for cultivation of stingless bees. Plant species of these families should receive more attention by beekeepers and researchers of stingless bees to identify and conserve species of these taxonomic groups, important suppliers of trophic resources for stingless bee.…”

Spectrum of Pollen Stored by Melipona mandacaia (Smith, 1863) (Hymenoptera: Apidae, Meliponini) in an Urban Arid Landscape

“…Studies performed by Alves et al (2006) to identify M. mandacaia nectar sources in the state of Bahia- Brazil, Souza et al (2015) of M. scutellaris on the north coast of Bahia, Matos and Santos (2016) of M. scutellaris in an Atlantic Forest area in the state of Bahia, and of Melipona fasciculata in the state of Maranhão-Brazil, indicated that the greatest diversity of types was also for the Fabaceae family. Therefore, this family, besides being the main supplier of pollen throughout the year, is one of the main sources of nectar for the stingless bees.…”

Ecological impact and population status of non-native bees in a Brazilian urban environment

“…A modelling study suggested that M. scutellaris has low probability to occur in the Curitiba region in the next century even with climate change (Giannini et al, 2012) but further monitoring or controlled experiments would be required for a proper evaluation of the potential of the species to stablished self-sustaining populations in the wild and become invasive in the region. As a generalist species (Souza et al, 2015;BBPID) with a considerably long flight ranges (Araújo et al, 2004), M. scutellaris has potential to invade warmer regions of the country. In fact, data from SpeciesLink (Fig.…”