Frugivory by a stingless bee (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

Frugivory is not frequent among bees. Although stingless bees visit aged fruits for pulp, the use of fresh fruits is recorded only for Trigona hypogea Silvestri, a species that does not visit flowers. Here we report the occurrence of frugivory in Trigona amazonensis (Ducke), a flower-visiting stingless bee.

Notes on the morphology of Tetrapedia diversipes Klug 1810 (Tetrapediini, Apidae), an oil-collecting bee

Some groups of bees collect oil from flowers and use this product to feed the larvae and to line the nestsand brood cells, as is the case for bees of the Neotropical genus Tetrapedia (Tetrapediini, Apidae). They aresolitary and construct their nests on pre-existing cavities in wood. Aiming to bring a better understandingof the oil collecting structures of Neotropical oil bees, in this study we examined the foreleg morphologyof female of Tetrapedia diversipes Klug, showing on SEM the adaptations of forebasitarsus for collectingoil from flowers. The metasoma of female bees was measured and dissected using stereomicroscope andthe size and shape of the Dufour’s gland were estimated. T. diversipes hold a curved comb on the basitarsusof the front leg to collect oil and a mixture of slender and branched hairs on the scopa of the hind leg totransport it. These structures are very similar on other examined Tetrapedia species. The Dufour’s glandof T. diversipes is reduced, occupying about 2.2% of the metasoma. Further investigation of the chemicalcomposition of the Dufour’s gland secretion, of the cell lining and of the collected floral oil might clarifythe role of these components on T. diversipes’ life.

Comunidades de machos de abelhas Euglossina (Hymenoptera: Apidae) em fragmentos florestais no Sul do Brasil / Communities of euglossine males (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in forest fragments from Southern Brazil

O objetivo deste trabalho foi estudar as comunidades de abelhas Euglossina em três fragmentos de floresta semidecídua de tamanhos diferentes (8,5 ha, 86 ha e 2280 ha), na região de Londrina, norte do Paraná. De novembro de 2001 a abril de 2002, machos atraídos às iscas-odores de eucaliptol, eugenol e vanilina foram amostrados em coletas mensais, com 2h de duração. Foram coletados 245 indivíduos pertencentes a quatro gêneros e sete espécies. No fragmento maior foram coletados 152 machos pertencentes a seis espécies, no médio, 45 machos de cinco espécies e, no menor, 48 machos de sete espécies. Os índices de diversidade (H') e eqüidade de espécies (J') variaram de 1,21 a 1,42 e 0,62 a 0,86, respectivamente. A ordem de abundância das espécies variou nos três locais. Aparentemente, a redução no tamanho dos fragmentos afetou negativamente a abundância de Eufriesea violacea Blanchard, a qual foi a espécie mais comum (43,4 por cento) no fragmento maior e a quarta (8,3 por cento) em ordem de abundância no fragmento menor. Os resultados sugerem a necessidade de se manter áreas grandes de florestas para uma melhor conservação de populações desta e provavelmente de outras espécies de Euglossina.

The aim of this work was to study communities of euglossine bees in three fragments of semideciduous forest with different sizes (8.5 ha, 86 ha and 2280 ha), in Northern Paraná State (Brazil). From November 2001 through April 2002 males of euglossine bees were sampled using chemical baits. A total of 245 males from four genera and seven species visited the baits. In the largest fragment were sampled 152 males of 6 species, in the medium, 45 males of five species and, in the smallest, 48 males of seven species. The diversity (H') and species evenness (J') varied from 1.21 to 1.42 and from 0.62 to 0.86, respectively. A change in abundance order of species was verified in the different areas. Apparently, a reduction on fragment size affected negatively the frequency of Eufriesea violacea Blanchard, the most common species (43.4 percent) in the largest fragment and the fourth (8.3 percent) in the smallest one. The results suggest the need of maintenance of large forest areas to keep viable populations of this and probably other species of euglossine bees.