Foraging distance of Melipona subnitida Ducke (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

Silva, Bianca Guimarães; Pinto, Rafael Sousa; Contrera, Felipe Andrés León; Albuquerque, Patrícia Maia Correia de; Rêgo, Márcia Maria Corrêa

doi:10.13102/sociobiology.v61i4.494-501

Cited by 17 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Therefore, spatially explicit models for bee conservation and crop pollination services based on such data may be severely underestimating flight distance and dispersal capacity in stingless bees. As expected, there was a decrease in bee return rate with release distance and an increase on the duration of return (Table II), as observed for other bee species (Guédot et al 2009;Rodrigues and Ribeiro 2014;Silva et al 2014;Smith et al 2017;Campbell et al 2019). However, we found great variability in the return time of the foragers (Table II).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

Radiofrequency identification (RFID) reveals long-distance flight and homing abilities of the stingless bee Melipona fasciculata

et al. 2019

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Determining bee flight capacity is crucial for developing management strategies for bee conservation and/or crop pollination and purposes. In this study, we determined the flight distance of the stingless bee Melipona fasciculata using the radiofrequency identification (RFID) technology. For this, we conducted two translocation experiments using workers equipped with RFID microsensors: (1) release of bees at seven distances between 100 and 3000 m from experimental colonies in Belém, Brazil, and (2) at six distances between 1500 and 10,000 m at Carajás National Forest Reserve. Return rates of workers were negatively correlated to release distance, with typical flight distances of 2 km, but a maximum homing distance of 10 km. Use of RFID tags revealed how past experiments may have greatly underestimated homing abilities of stingless bees.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

Radiofrequency identification (RFID) reveals long-distance flight and homing abilities of the stingless bee Melipona fasciculata

et al. 2019

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“…Previous experiments on foraging distances in stingless bees have predominantly used either artificial feeders, where workers are trained to feed on and recruit to nectar feeders placed at increasing distance from the nest (Kuhn-Neto et al 2009;Silva et al 2014) or translocation ('homing') experiments, where captured bees are released at increasing distance from the nest (Roubik and Aluja 1983;Smith et al 2017). Results from these experiments demonstrate that 'maximum homing distances' in stingless bees are, as in other bee taxa, a function of overall body size (van Nieuwstadt and Ruano Iraheta 1996; Araújo et al 2004;Kuhn-Neto et al 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Temporal variation in homing ability of the neotropical stingless bee Scaptotrigona aff. postica (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Meliponini)

et al. 2019

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Body size is a known predictor of foraging distance in stingless bees (Apidae: Meliponini). However, effects of seasonality on foraging distances, particularly in tropical regions, are poorly understood. Here, we use translocation ('homing') experiments, the release of marked individuals at various distances from the nest, to investigate how homing abilities of the Neotropical stingless bee, Scaptotrigona aff. postica differ across the transition between wet and dry seasons (February-August) in a heterogenous tropical landscape in the eastern Brazilian Amazon. We also determined nectar sugar concentrations of unmanipulated returning foragers to assess temporal changes in collected resource quality. Maximum and typical homing distances (i.e. distances where 90% and 50% of released bees are lost) were estimated to be 860 and 392 m, respectively, confirming that while some individuals travel long distances, most workers must remain close to nests during foraging trips. Homing distances and collected nectar sugar concentrations showed inverse temporal patterns, as homing range declined in later months (May to August), whereas nectar sugar concentrations increased over the same period. Thus, shorter homing distances in later 'dry season' months probably reflected an increased availability of floral resources compared with earlier months. Together, our findings highlight the limited spatial extent of foraging activities in S. aff. postica workers, and that bee homing distances vary with environmental conditions. These results provide useful information for both stingless bee colony management and conservation in humid tropical regions.

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“…Foi liberado um total de 180 abelhas pelo método de captura e recaptura de Roubik e Aluja (1983), durante o período de realização do estudo, assumindo que as abelhas que retornassem ao ninho, conheciam o caminho de volta, ou seja, já tinham voado as distâncias utilizadas no experimento. Para Silva et al (2014), o teste de captura e recaptura pode ser considerado eficaz, uma vez que as abelhas libertadas só precisam voar de volta para o ninho, entretanto, quando realizado em grandes distâncias as abelhas podem se perder no caminho de volta, por falta de familiaridade com o local de onde foram liberadas.…”

Section: Resultsunclassified

DISTÂNCIA DE VOO PARA FORRAGEAMENTO DA ABELHA URUÇU BEIÇO (Melipona eburnea Friese, 1900)

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et al. 2017

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Devido à necessidade de insumos para manutenção da colônia, as abelhas operárias realizam voos afim de coletar alimentos (pólen e néctar), materiais de construção (barro, resina etc.) e retirar o lixo do interior da colônia. Para realização do experimento foram capturadas 30 abelhas operárias, na saída do ninho, que foram marcadas no tórax com tinta atóxica e colocadas em uma caixa plástica, medindo 11cm de altura por 15cm de largura e 20cm de comprimento. As cores utilizadas na identificação das abelhas foram administradas de acordo com a distância de soltura. Adotaram-se as cores: laranja para 500m; azul para 1.000m; amarela para 1.500m; verde para 2.000m; branca para 1.600m e vermelha para 1.700m. As solturas foram realizadas uma a cada dia de experimento, sendo as distâncias medidas com o auxílio de GPS. As liberações ocorreram entre 07h e 08h da manhã, em linha reta, em relação à colônia. Para contagem do número de abelhas que retornavam, a entrada do ninho foi fechada e, a cada abelha que regressava, era reaberta, permitindo que a mesma entrasse. Para análise dos dados, utilizou-se o programa Microsoft Excel 2013. Houve uma taxa significativa de retorno até 1.500m. A partir dessa distância, o sucesso das atividades de forrageamento foi inferior a 50%, tornando-se inviável a realização de coletas, devido à perda de grande número de forrageiras. As análises mostraram que Melipona eburnea alcança um raio de ação em torno de 908 ha, podendo percorrer uma distância de, aproximadamente, 1.700m em relação ao ninho.

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Foraging distance of Melipona subnitida Ducke (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

Cited by 17 publications

References 24 publications

Radiofrequency identification (RFID) reveals long-distance flight and homing abilities of the stingless bee Melipona fasciculata

Radiofrequency identification (RFID) reveals long-distance flight and homing abilities of the stingless bee Melipona fasciculata

Temporal variation in homing ability of the neotropical stingless bee Scaptotrigona aff. postica (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Meliponini)

DISTÂNCIA DE VOO PARA FORRAGEAMENTO DA ABELHA URUÇU BEIÇO (Melipona eburnea Friese, 1900)

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