Interaction Network and Niche Analysis of Natural Enemy Communities and their Host Bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) in fragments of Cerrado and Atlantic Forest

Abstract

Natural enemies are important components of solitary bee communities that nest in preexisting cavities because they act as a relevant mortality factor and can regulate population growth. Despite this, the natural enemy-host interaction remains poorly investigated. This research aimed to determine the composition of the community, the structure of the interaction network, and niche overlap and breadth of natural enemy species in areas of Cerrado (Brazilian savanna) and Semideciduous seasonal forest (Atlantic Forest) in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. Trap-nests made of black cardboard and bamboo canes were provided in the field and inspected monthly in each area, from August 2001 to July 2003 at Cerrado and from June 2006 to May 2008 at the Semideciduous seasonal forest. A modular structure in the interaction network was observed for both areas with the populations of natural enemies showing high degrees of specialization. This structure confers higher stability against disturbances than less specialized webs since these adversities must spread more slowly through the network. The niche analysis showed low degrees of overlap for both, trophic and temporal, among the natural enemy populations.

Trophic interaction and diversity of cavity-nesting bees and wasps (Hymenoptera: Aculeata) in Atlantic forest fragments and in adjacent matrices

“…What we also perceive of food webs in both forest fragments and adjacent matrices is that the hosts have more partners than their natural enemies, and although in the adjacent matrices the rate of parasitism was higher than in forest fragments, there was no higher rate of natural enemies to host in these areas. Most species of natural enemies parasitized only one species of host, even Anthrax , which is a generalist species (Araujo et al 2018;Lima et al 2018 Buschini and Fajardo 2010), and there was specificity in their interactions, the same occurring between the species of Coelioxys , C. tarsata , and Megachile (Moureapis ) sp. Parasitoid and insects species richness, in general, has been found to be positively correlated with vegetation diversity and plant architectural complexity (Stinson and Brown 1983;Hawkins and Lawton 1987) which may then spill over to adjacent habitats (Tscharntke et al 2005), although in this study, and in those also carried out in the state of Paraná, southern Brazil (Iantas et al 2017), the greatest richness and abundance of wasps and bees and their parasitoids have been found always in the matrices where the forest was totally removed, and which are the environments with less structural complexity.…”

Decoding bee cleptoparasitism through comparative transcriptomics of Coelioxoides waltheriae and its host Tetrapedia diversipes

“…However, recent molecular-based phylogenies have placed Coelioxoides within a large cleptoparasitic clade (Nomadinae: Apidae) not sister to Tetrapedia 8 – 10 , 24 , 25 . C. waltheriae is considered to be the main natural enemy of T. diversipes 26 even though it has been also reported to parasitize nests of other Tetrapedia species 27 , 28 .…”

Estrutura de comunidades de abelhas e vespas que nidificam em cavidades preexistentes em áreas de Cerrado e Mata Estacional Semidecidual com especial referência ao nicho trófico das espécies de abelhas

“…Apesar da utilização de estudos de redes ecológicas serem conhecidas há algum tempo, somente atualmente elas estão sendo consideradas como ferramentas em estudos ecológicos envolvendo interações insetos-planta (Bascompte et al, 2006;Guimarães et al, 2007;Carvalho et al, 2013;Ferreira & Absy, 2015). Essas redes ecológicas podem ser antagonísticas levando em consideração hospedeiros e seus inimigos naturais (Araujo et al, 2018;Lima et al, 2018) ou mutualísticas e demonstrarem a relação entre abelha e seu alimento e/ou planta e visitante floral, ou até planta e seus polinizadores (Aidar et al, 2015;Rocha-Filho et al, 2018). Com as redes mutualísticas pode-se inferir ou até prever as consequências da extinção de espécies e as perturbações ambientais para a comunidade como um todo (Pascual & Dunne, 2006).…”