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DIET OF IMMATURE Euglossa (Euglossa)
townsendi COCKERELL, 1904 (APIDAE,
EUGLOSSINI) IN HYGROPHILOUS FOREST
Autores: Maurício Meirelles do Nascimento Castro1*; Carlos Alberto Garófalo1;
José Carlos Serrano1; Cláudia Inês da Silva1
Instituição: 1*Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto – USP
Contato: Avenida Bandeirantes 3900, 14040-901 Ribeirão Preto, Brasil
Email: [email protected]
It is very important to identify the plants visited by bees in a given area to know what and how
much of the floral resources are being exploited by them in that place. Euglossa townsendi females
are hardly observed in flowers and males are rarely attracted by chemical baits. However, females of
these bees are commonly found nesting in trap-nests (TN) made with bamboo canes, which makes
this method an alternative to sample and study this species. For this reason, TN were placed in an area
of hygrophilous forest in the municipality of Guatapará-SP, Brazil between March 2010 and February
2012. The TN occupied were taken to the laboratory and after the emergence of all individuals, the
pollen material remaining in the brood cells were collected and exposed to the process of acetolysis
for later identification. The pollen grains of the brood cells were identified by comparison with the
pollen of plants that bloomed in the area during the study period. Six nests of Eg. townsendi, founded
in December (n = 1), January (3) and May (2), were studied. In total were analyzed samples from
54 cells in which 22 families of 14 pollen types were distinguished. The family best represented was
Fabaceae with five species, followed by Convolvulaceae, Melastomataceae and Bignoniaceae with
two species each and Solanaceae with one species. Melastomataceae was found in 100% of the samples being also the most dominant, representing 75% of all pollen identified, followed by Myrtaceae
(83.3%, 4.67%), Solanaceae (67%, 10.14%) Bignoniaceae (67%, 2.24%), Fabaceae-Mimosoideae
(50%, 3.43%) and (Rubiaceae) (50%, 1.46%). These results indicates that immatures of Eg. towswndi
feed preferentially of the pollen of Melastomataceae and secondarily of Solanaceae, Myrtaceae and
Fabaceae-Mimosoideae. The nectar sources were represented by species of only two families, Bignoniaceae, and Rubiaceae.
Apoio: FFCLRP convênio CAPES/PROAP 56/2007; FAPESP - 2010/10285-4; CAPES
-PNPD - 02958/09-0
Área: Ecologia de abelhas nativas
Palavra chave: Trap-nests - pollen - floral resources - Euglossa townsendi - acetolysis
Anais do X Encontro sobre Abelhas, 2012
Ribeirão Preto – SP – Brasil