Nesting biology, life cycle, and interactions between females ofManuelia postica, a solitary species of the Xylocopinae (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

Abstract

The Xylocopinae contains four tribes with species which show a range of nesting habits, from solitary to social. The Manueliini is the sister group to all other Xylocopine tribes, with one genus, Manuelia, of three species found mainly in Chile. This is a solitary genus, whose biology is scarcely known for two species, M. gayatina and M. gayi, and so far completely unknown for M. postica. This paper reports on nesting substrates, nest architecture, nesting behaviours, life cycle, and interactions between females at nesting sites, for M. postica. The results indicate that M. postica presents some features which are typical of solitary life, and also some features which are unusual in solitary bees but have been reported in phylogenetically more apical social species. Our findings open interesting questions on the ecological scenarios involved in the evolution of sociality within the Xylocopinae.

What do we know about Neotropical trap‑nesting bees? Synopsis about their nest biology and taxonomy

“…Ceratina, with 199 species, has never been reported in trap-nests. Also, Manuelia (3 species) in Argentina and Chile has not been reported in trap-nests (see Daly et al, 1987;Flores-Prado et al, 2008 for detailed biology). Xylocopa (111 species) in the Neotropical region (Moure et al, 2013) includes trap-nesting only in the subgenus Neoxylocopa ( Table 1, Table S1).…”

“…Xylocopa (111 species) in the Neotropical region (Moure et al, 2013) includes trap-nesting only in the subgenus Neoxylocopa ( Table 1, Table S1). Phylogenetic relationships among these four lineages vary by study, yet Allodapina and Ceratinina are consistently considered to be sister groups (Flores-Prado et al, 2008;Cardinal et al, 2010;Martins et al, 2014). .…”

“…Entrance diameter varies from 12-23 mm ) with 1-6 brood cells . Brood cells are barrel-shaped , as in species of Manuelia (Flores-Prado et al, 2008). Cells are aligned .…”

“…Females may reuse nests and nest cooperatively with sisters (Camillo & Garófalo, 1989). Guarding behavior, recognition and tolerance of nest males are found too in all xylocopines (Flores-Prado et al, 2010). Xylocopa is distributed in all Neotropical region.…”

Kin Recognition in the largely Solitary Bee, Manuelia postica (Apidae: Xylocopinae)

“…Manuelia postica (Apidae, Xylocopinae) is a largely solitary bee species whose nests are found mainly in stems of Chusquea quila (Poaceae). A female excavates a tunnel, constructs a food mass, lays an egg on it , builds a partition with wood particles, and repeats these last three processes up to seven times before the nest is finished (Flores‐Prado et al. 2008b).…”