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.