Aggression and Competition among Stingless Bees: Field Studies

Johnson, Leslie K.; Hubbell, Stephen P.

doi:10.2307/1934624

Cited by 195 publications

(163 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…O comportamento agressivo e monopolista de espécies de Trigona verifi cado neste trabalho, já era conhecido (Johnson & Hubbell 1974, Hubbell & Johnson 1977. Operárias de T. spinipes forrageiam em "bando", várias operárias monopolizando as fl ores (Almeida & Laroca 1988, Sazima & Sazima 1989, apresentam vôo lento e mimetizam vespas e abelhas agressivas que possuem acúleos desenvolvidos, como espécies de Tetrapedia e Paratetrapedia (Kerr 1951).…”

Section: Discussionunclassified

Polinização entomófila de abobrinha, Cucurbita moschata (Cucurbitaceae)

Serra¹,

Campos²

2010

Neotrop. entomol.

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-The objectives of this work were to determine the squash entomofauna in the region of Viçosa, Minas Gerais state, to study their behavior on fl owers and their importance for pollination, verifying the role of each pollinator. The most common species were Trigona spinipes (Fabricius), Trigona hyalinata (Lepeletier), Apis mellifera (L.) and Melipona quadrifasciata (Lepeletier). The visitation behavior of A. mellifera, M. quadrifasciata, and Bombus morio (Swederus) were similar. They visited fl owers for nectar collection, positioning themselves vertically between the corolla and the sexual structures of the fl owers, with the back directed toward the fl oral axis, which permitted the removal of pollen from the anthers of fl owers with stamens and its deposition on the stigma of fl owers with pistils, being considered therefore effective pollinators. Trigona spinipes and T. hyalinata foraged in groups, preventing other species from landing on the fl owers which they occupied. Due to their small body size and only infrequent contact with the sexual structures of the fl owers, these species are considered occasional pollinators. The number of fruits produced differed between freely visited fl owers, those prevented from receiving visits and those visited only a single time by M. quadrifasciata, B. morio, A. mellifera, T. hyalinata or T. spinipes. Flowers prevented from receiving visits or visited only once by T. spinipes did not produce fruits. The remaining pollination systems led to fruitifi cation, with open pollination or a single visit from either M. quadrifasciata or B. morio leading to most fruit production.

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Section: Discussionunclassified

Polinização entomófila de abobrinha, Cucurbita moschata (Cucurbitaceae)

Serra¹,

Campos²

2010

Neotrop. entomol.

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“…Although the depositors' inclusive fitness would be increased by intraspecific scent mark use in case neighbouring colonies were founded by genetically related queens, T. corvina foragers from different colonies encountering each other on profitable food sources initiated fights to the death (Johnson and Hubbell, 1974). These observations suggest the use of conspecific scent marks in T. corvina to be a case of intraspecific "olfactory eavesdropping" (Nieh et al, 2004b).…”

Section: The Use Of Conspecific Scent Marksmentioning

confidence: 95%

The use of food source scent marks by the stingless beeTrigona corvina(Hymenoptera: Apidae): the importance of the depositor’s identity

2006

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-The deposition and use of scent marks on food sources has been found in foraging solitary bees, bumblebees, stingless bees and honeybees. The widespread existence of this communication mechanism points to its ecological significance. The importance of the depositor's identity on the use of food source scent marks, however, has never been systematically investigated in the same bee species. Here we present strong evidence that individual foragers of the stingless bee species Trigona corvina scent marked a high quality food source and that they used their own scent marks to relocate it in choice experiments. T. corvina foragers showed a similar significant preference for a food source scent marked by their nest mates and by bees from a conspecific colony over a non-scent marked food source. However, no evidence for the use of scent marks deposited by other stingless bee species was found. The implications of these findings for the evolution of food source scent marking in bees are discussed. scent mark / food source / depositor / stingless bee / Trigona / chemical communication

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“…Although there is less evidence for collective fighting in eusocial bees, intra-and interspecific battles are known to occur in the vicinity of foraging sites, where colonies compete for the possession of food resources (Johnson and Hubbell 1974;Nagamitsu and Inoue 1997;Nieh et al 2005). Since access to foraging sites can influence survival and reproduction within the nest, especially if food is limiting (Roubik 1982), the inclusive fitness benefits to each worker of securing (or losing) one of these sites provide an explanation for why large numbers of fatalities can occur during these territorial battles (Johnson and Hubbell 1974).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Since access to foraging sites can influence survival and reproduction within the nest, especially if food is limiting (Roubik 1982), the inclusive fitness benefits to each worker of securing (or losing) one of these sites provide an explanation for why large numbers of fatalities can occur during these territorial battles (Johnson and Hubbell 1974).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bees at War: Interspecific Battles and Nest Usurpation in Stingless Bees

Cunningham

Hereward

Heard

et al. 2014

The American Naturalist

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JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.. abstract: We provide the first evidence for interspecific warfare in bees, a spectacular natural phenomenon that involves a series of aerial battles and leads to thousands of fatalities from both attacking and defending colonies. Molecular analysis of fights at a hive of the Australian stingless bee Tetragonula carbonaria revealed that the attack was launched by a related species, Tetragonula hockingsi, which has only recently extended its habitat into southeastern Queensland. Following a succession of attacks by the same T. hockingsi colony over a 4-month period, the defending T. carbonaria colony was defeated and the hive usurped, with the invading colony installing a new queen. We complemented our direct observations with a 5-year study of more than 260 Tetragonula hives and found interspecific hive changes, which were likely to be usurpation events, occurring in 46 hives over this period. We discuss how fighting swarms and hive usurpation fit with theoretical predictions on the evolution of fatal fighting and highlight the many unexplained features of these battles that warrant further study.

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Aggression and Competition among Stingless Bees: Field Studies

Cited by 195 publications

References 6 publications

Polinização entomófila de abobrinha, Cucurbita moschata (Cucurbitaceae)

Polinização entomófila de abobrinha, Cucurbita moschata (Cucurbitaceae)

The use of food source scent marks by the stingless beeTrigona corvina(Hymenoptera: Apidae): the importance of the depositor’s identity

Bees at War: Interspecific Battles and Nest Usurpation in Stingless Bees

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