Recurso polínico y ciclo estacional de Thygater aethiops (Hymenoptera: Apidae) en un ambiente urbano (Bogotá-Colombia)

Abstract

Pollen resource and seasonal cycle of Thygater aethiops (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in an urban environment (Bogotá-Colombia). Thygater aethiops is a native bee that can be found in parks and gardens in diverse urban areas such as those in the city of Bogotá (Colombia). However, little is known about its biology as well as ecological adaptations to urban areas. This study aimed to describe the seasonal cycle and daily foraging activities of T. aethiops, as well as identify the pollen resources used by this bee over a year in a population nesting in an aggregation in the "Parque Nacional Enrique Olaya Herrera" in Bogotá. Changes in the nest activity were monitored weekly by counting the number of active nests in the aggregation between December/2012 and February/2014. To determine the daily foraging activity, the numbers of bees entering their nests over a period of 10 minutes every hour between 8:00 and 14:00 h were recorded. Females with pollen loads entering to their nest were captured weekly, between September/2012 and August/2013, and their pollen loads analyzed. Three nesting peaks occurred after the precipitation peaks, but the number of active nests was not correlated with precipitation. The nesting activities stopped in a large number of the active nests (20-50 % of nests) after an anthropic disturbance was registered in the nesting area. Bees forage for nectar and pollen between 8:00 and 14:00 h, with a peak at 10:00 h. Daily foraging activity changed during the study period due to anthropic disturbance. There was not a significant relationship between air temperature and the number of females entering their nests. Foraging activities did not change between the dry and rainy seasons. A total of 26 pollen types were found in 169 pollen loads. Ulex europaeus (Fabaceae) and Solanum laxum (Solanaceae) were the most abundant plants represented on the pollen load across the study period. According to these results, T. aethiops would be considered a mesolectic species. The ability of T. aethiops to use different pollen resources both native and exotic, as well as to presumably recover its population after disturbances, are characteristics that may have allowed this bee to adapt to urban environments. Knowledge on the floral resources as well as other biological features of this bee species is important to promote its conservation in urban areas. Rev. Biol. Trop. 64 (3): 1247-1257. Epub 2016 September 01.

High thermal tolerance in high‐elevation species and laboratory‐reared colonies of tropical bumble bees

“…Information on the biology of these bumble bees is limited, except for B. pauloensis that has been more intensively studied in Brazil. However, during the last two decades, B. pauloensis has been studied in Colombia for its promising use in greenhouse tomato pollination, but it is only raised in captivity at commercial scale in Argentina (Gonzalez et al, 2004 ; Pinilla‐Gallego et al, 2016 ). Bombus pauloensis , and to some degree B. hortulanus , is typically associated with transformed habitats in Colombia while the other two species are primarily found in areas with more preserved vegetation (Gonzalez et al, 2004 ; Pinilla‐Gallego et al, 2016 ).…”

Scientific note: Phoretic interaction between Antherophagus (Coleoptera) and Bombus funebris (Hymenoptera), using Chuquiraga jussieui (Asteraceae) as transfer stations in the páramos

“…Bombus funebris is an Andean species distributed from Colombia to northern Chile (Rasmussen 2003). This bumblebee species is found from 600 up to 4750 m asl (Rasmussen 2003;Pinilla-Gallego et al 2016). Nevertheless, B. funebris reaches its peak of abundance between 2800 and 3800 m (Pinilla-Gallego et al 2016), an elevation range that overlaps that of the páramos ecosystems in the northern Andes (usually above 3500 m and below the snowline; Sklenář et al 2014).…”

“…This bumblebee species is found from 600 up to 4750 m asl (Rasmussen 2003;Pinilla-Gallego et al 2016). Nevertheless, B. funebris reaches its peak of abundance between 2800 and 3800 m (Pinilla-Gallego et al 2016), an elevation range that overlaps that of the páramos ecosystems in the northern Andes (usually above 3500 m and below the snowline; Sklenář et al 2014). Although it is a common bumblebee species in the inter-Andean valleys (Rasmussen 2003), knowledge about its biology and ecological interactions, such as the flowers they pollinate, is still very limited.…”

Abejas como prestadoras de servicios ecosistémicos culturales: caso Jardín Botánico de Bogotá, Colombia

“…En Colombia los estudios de abejas urbanas se han enfocado principalmente en las abejas sociales Meliponini y en sus hábitos de nidificación (Nates-Parra et al 2006b;Vélez-Ruiz et al 2013;Martínez et al 2017). Respecto a Bogotá se han descrito nuevas especies urbanas y se ha profundizado sobre los hábitos de nidificación y forrajeo de 21 de las 40 especies reportadas para la ciudad (González 2006;Nates-Parra et al 2006a;Tellez-Farfán y Posada-Flórez 2013;Pinilla-Gallego et al 2016;Rodríguez-C. et al 2019). Sin embargo, aún se requiere continuar con estudios de varias especies de abejas solitarias para conocer más sobre su biología y diseñar estrategias de conservación.…”