Thermal evidence of the invasion of a stingless bee nest by a mammal

• Main Authors: S. D. Hilário, V. L. Imperatriz-Fonseca
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Instituto Internacional de Ecologia
• Series: Brazilian Journal of Biology
• Subjects: temperature; thermoregulation; stingless bees; mammal; heat production
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1519-69842003000300011&lng=en&tlng=en

Melipona bicolor, an inhabitant of the Atlantic Rainforest, nidifies in hollows of live or dead trees. In order to study thermoregulation of a nest of this species, a temperature data logger was installed inside a hollow tree. After this, an intruder dug a hole, invaded the nest, and probably consumed its honey, pollen and bees, having remained there during three days. Thermal evidence and its behavior allowed the delimitation of a small number of suspects, wich we analized here. The intruder was a small mammal, predominantly nocturnal, that takes shelter in burrows, probably the yellow armadillo (Euphractus sexcinctus). Other evidence, if collected immediately after invasion, could precisely indicate precisely the species.