Bee Visitors of Quaresmeira Flowers (Tibouchina granulosa Cogn.) in the Region of Dourados (MS-Brasil)

This research was developed in the center-urban area at the city of Dourados (MS), in Tibouchina granulosa trees, a plant popularly known as “quaresmeira” in Brazil. The floral visitors of this species were recorded in three daily periods: 7 - 8 a.m., 1 – 2 p.m. and 4 – 5 p. m. Bee visitors of thos...

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Main Author: Anna Kátia Brizola-Bonacina
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana 2014-08-01
Series:Sociobiology
Subjects:
Online Access:http://periodicos.uefs.br/index.php/sociobiology/article/view/503
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spelling doaj-33fa34b8b33f47a09fbe58dc7c96b7e12021-10-04T02:15:45ZengUniversidade Estadual de Feira de SantanaSociobiology0361-65252447-80672014-08-0159410.13102/sociobiology.v59i4.503Bee Visitors of Quaresmeira Flowers (Tibouchina granulosa Cogn.) in the Region of Dourados (MS-Brasil)Anna Kátia Brizola-Bonacina0Universidade Federal da Grande Dourados This research was developed in the center-urban area at the city of Dourados (MS), in Tibouchina granulosa trees, a plant popularly known as “quaresmeira” in Brazil. The floral visitors of this species were recorded in three daily periods: 7 - 8 a.m., 1 – 2 p.m. and 4 – 5 p. m. Bee visitors of those plants were collected with an entomological net when they landed on the flowers. The bees were anesthetized in a closed camera containing etila acetate, conserved in Dietrich´s fixative and, soon afterwards, transferred to 70% ethyl alcohol for subsequent identification. Almost 300 specimens of Africanized Apis mellifera, Trigona spinipes and Tetragonisca angustula were collected. The presence of these three species of bees in the flowers of T. granulosa suggests that they can be considered the main floral visitors of that vegetal species. T. angustula workers did not visit the flowers of T. granulosa between 7 and 8 a.m., but they were the main floral visitors from 4 to 5 p.m. The workers of T. spinipes presented a very aggressive behavior against the Africanized A. mellifera workers on the quaresmeira flowers, defending the food sources with strength and efficiency and provoking a drastic reduction in the number of honeybee visits between 1 and 2 p.m. Nevertheless, they did not interfere in the opportunistic activity of foraging by T. angustula workers, mainly between 4 and 5 p.m. The most important result of this research was the detection of the Competitive Exclusion Principle between A. mellifera and T. spinipes species in relation to the foraging behavior, when they exploit the floral resources of T. granulosa. http://periodicos.uefs.br/index.php/sociobiology/article/view/503QuaresmeiraTibouchina granulosaForaging behaviorBeesCompetitive Exclusion Principle
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Anna Kátia Brizola-Bonacina
spellingShingle Anna Kátia Brizola-Bonacina
Bee Visitors of Quaresmeira Flowers (Tibouchina granulosa Cogn.) in the Region of Dourados (MS-Brasil)
Sociobiology
Quaresmeira
Tibouchina granulosa
Foraging behavior
Bees
Competitive Exclusion Principle
author_facet Anna Kátia Brizola-Bonacina
author_sort Anna Kátia Brizola-Bonacina
title Bee Visitors of Quaresmeira Flowers (Tibouchina granulosa Cogn.) in the Region of Dourados (MS-Brasil)
title_short Bee Visitors of Quaresmeira Flowers (Tibouchina granulosa Cogn.) in the Region of Dourados (MS-Brasil)
title_full Bee Visitors of Quaresmeira Flowers (Tibouchina granulosa Cogn.) in the Region of Dourados (MS-Brasil)
title_fullStr Bee Visitors of Quaresmeira Flowers (Tibouchina granulosa Cogn.) in the Region of Dourados (MS-Brasil)
title_full_unstemmed Bee Visitors of Quaresmeira Flowers (Tibouchina granulosa Cogn.) in the Region of Dourados (MS-Brasil)
title_sort bee visitors of quaresmeira flowers (tibouchina granulosa cogn.) in the region of dourados (ms-brasil)
publisher Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana
series Sociobiology
issn 0361-6525
2447-8067
publishDate 2014-08-01
description This research was developed in the center-urban area at the city of Dourados (MS), in Tibouchina granulosa trees, a plant popularly known as “quaresmeira” in Brazil. The floral visitors of this species were recorded in three daily periods: 7 - 8 a.m., 1 – 2 p.m. and 4 – 5 p. m. Bee visitors of those plants were collected with an entomological net when they landed on the flowers. The bees were anesthetized in a closed camera containing etila acetate, conserved in Dietrich´s fixative and, soon afterwards, transferred to 70% ethyl alcohol for subsequent identification. Almost 300 specimens of Africanized Apis mellifera, Trigona spinipes and Tetragonisca angustula were collected. The presence of these three species of bees in the flowers of T. granulosa suggests that they can be considered the main floral visitors of that vegetal species. T. angustula workers did not visit the flowers of T. granulosa between 7 and 8 a.m., but they were the main floral visitors from 4 to 5 p.m. The workers of T. spinipes presented a very aggressive behavior against the Africanized A. mellifera workers on the quaresmeira flowers, defending the food sources with strength and efficiency and provoking a drastic reduction in the number of honeybee visits between 1 and 2 p.m. Nevertheless, they did not interfere in the opportunistic activity of foraging by T. angustula workers, mainly between 4 and 5 p.m. The most important result of this research was the detection of the Competitive Exclusion Principle between A. mellifera and T. spinipes species in relation to the foraging behavior, when they exploit the floral resources of T. granulosa.
topic Quaresmeira
Tibouchina granulosa
Foraging behavior
Bees
Competitive Exclusion Principle
url http://periodicos.uefs.br/index.php/sociobiology/article/view/503
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