Male sleeping aggregations of solitary oil-collecting bees in Brazil (Centridini, Tapinotaspidini, and Tetrapediini; Hymenoptera: Apidae)

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Males of solitary bees usually spend the night in clusters on small branches of plants, cavities and flowers. The individuals usually return to the same location each evening during their life, exhibiting site fidelity to a particular plant. We report on the sleeping roosts of the males of some oil-collecting bees of the genera Centris, Paratetrapedia, Lanthanomelissa, Monoeca, and Tetrapedia, as well as the host plants. We discuss the role of the male clusters to the associated plants.

Congregation Sites and Sleeping Roost of Male Stingless Bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Meliponini)

“…Overnight aggregations of bee males have been described previously for solitary bee species that exhibit site fidelity by returning to a particular sleeping roost on the successive nights (Kaiser, 1995;Alcock, 1998;Alves-dosSantos, 1999;Oliveira & Castro, 2002;Alves-dos-Santos et al, 2009). At Ribeirão Preto, the meliponary garden of the FFCLRP was daily inspected from June 03 to September 05 2010 for sleeping roosts between 17:00 h and 07:00 h. This meliponary contained approximately 150 colonies, including Scaptotrigona depilis (Moure), Tetragonisca angustula (Latreille), Frieseomelitta varia (Lepeletier), M. scutellaris (Latreille), M. quadrifasciata and Nannotrigona testaceicornis (Lepeletier).…”

“…Apart from these facts little is known about the reproductive behaviour of male stingless bees. Nothing is known about where males rest overnight after visiting such reproductive aggregations, although males of solitary bees are known to frequently spend the night on plants, alone or in groups under leaves (Kaiser, 1995;Alcock, 1998;Alves-dos-Santos et al, 2009). Furthermore, we know that solitary bee males may exhibit site fidelity by returning to a particular sleeping roost on the successive nights (Kaiser, 1995;Alcock, 1998;Alves-dos-Santos, 1999;Oliveira & Castro, 2002;Alves-dos-Santos et al, 2009).…”

Male sleeping aggregation of multiple Eucerini bee genera (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in Chapada Diamantina, Bahia, Brazil

“…While females of most solitary bee species spend the night inside their nests in construction, males have to find a place outside the nests to sleep, sometimes forming “male sleeping aggregations” (Evans and Linsley 1960, Oliveira and Castro 2002, Alves-dos-Santos et al 2009). As far we know, first registered observations for Hymenoptera were made in the middle of XIX century, in which two species of Scoliid wasps were recorded (Westwood 1840) followed by the same behavior in one species in Apidae family (Cresson 1865).…”

Solitary and social bees as pollinators of Wahlenbergia (Campanulaceae): single-visit effectiveness, overnight sheltering and responses to flower colour

“…1a, f). Night-sheltering solitary bees have been proposed to play a role in the pollination of some plant species (Simpson and Neff 1981;Alves-dos-Santos et al 2009). In the best documented case, Sapir et al (2005) showed that some Oncocylus irises in Israel are dependent on nightsheltering solitary male bees for sexual reproduction.…”