The Influence of the Loss of Brazilian Savanna Vegetation on the Occurrence of Nests of Stingless Bees (Apidae: Meliponini)

Abstract

Introduction Stingless bees (Apidae: Meliponini) are highly social bees considered by several authors as generalists, both in relation to floral resources and in relation to their choice of nesting substrate. Their nests are found primarily in tree cavities, but, as Apis mellifera Linnaeus, they may also occupy different types of natural cavities (Roubik, 1989), and some species may also use artificial cavities (e.g. Zanette et al., 2005). Unlike A. mellifera, however, their physiogastric queens are unable to fly, which has two major implications: first, they are unable to move the colony to another cavity if the nest site suffers a disturbance; second, the reproduction of the colony is made after the workers from the mother nest find a new cavity and prepare it to receive the new queen. After the new queen is established in the new nest, workers from the mother nest look after it up to six months (Roubik, 2006).

Body Size Influences Stingless Bee (Hymenoptera: Apidae) Communities Across a Range of Deforestation Levels in Rondônia, Brazil

“…Body size influences foraging range in many bee species; in addition, stingless bees initiate new colonies by moving resources from the maternal nest site to a newly established nest (Roubik 2006, Vit et al 2013) which may place additional limits on smaller species. However, it must be noted that some larger stingless bee species in the genus Melipona have also been found to be sensitive to deforestation or disturbance (Brown and Albrecht 2001, Pioker-Hara et al 2014).…”

“…Habitat loss and decreased connectivity of suitable habitat have been associated with declines in wild pollinator diversity (Ricketts et al 2008, Winfree et al 2009). In tropical regions, deforestation has been related to a decrease in species richness of native wild bees (Brosi et al 2007, Brown and Oliveira 2013); however, some species seem less affected by forest loss or disturbance (Klein et al 2002, Pioker-Hara et al 2014, Giannini et al 2015). In efforts to parse these responses, studies have included traits such as diet breadth, nesting requirements, foraging behavior, and intraspecific and interspecific variation in body size (Winfree et al 2007, Bommarco et al 2010, Williams et al 2010, Lichtenberg et al 2017).…”

Eusocial bee male aggregations: spatially and temporally separated but genetically homogenous

“…Small bee populations are possibly at higher extinction risk and may therefore produce more diploid males (Zayed & Packer, ). Deforestation and habitat fragmentation isolate bee populations and need to be addressed in future studies (e.g., Pioker‐Hara et al., ). Stingless bee species, including T. angustula , are the most effective pollinators of a variety of fruits, vegetables, and seeds, such as tomato, coffee, strawberry, citrus, avocado, onion, cucumber, and canola (Heard, ; Malagodi‐Braga & Kleinert, ; Slaa et al., ; Witter et al., ).…”

“…The decline of native bee populations has been reported frequently, often related to habitat fragmentation (Cairns et al., ; Freitas et al., ; Ramírez et al., ; Pioker‐Hara et al., ). Isolated bee populations are more prone to inbreeding and increase in diploid male production.…”

Absence of Leishmaniinae and Nosematidae in stingless bees

“…As reported for bee species in temperate regions 3 4 , these bee species are also under pressure. Deforestation leads to habitat loss, reducing the availability of suitable nest sites as well as food resources, and agricultural intensification increases the exposure to pesticides 5 6 7 8 . Invasive species, particularly the intensified use of introduced honeybees along with other exotic pollinators, have an impact on the native wild bees.…”