Pollen Spectrum and Trophic Niche Width of Melipona scutellaris Latreille, 1811 (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in Highly Urbanized and Industrialized Sites

Authors

  • Brunelle Ramos Andrade Universidade Federal do Recôncavo da Bahia http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6263-1498
  • Andreia Santos do Nascimento Universidade Federal do Recôncavo da Bahia http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5236-0460
  • Emanuella Lopes Franco Universidade Federal do Vale do São Francisco, campus Senhor do Bonfim
  • Daiane Rodrigues dos Santos Universidade Federal do Recôncavo da Bahia
  • Rogério Marcos de Oliveira Alves Universidade Federal do Recôncavo da Bahia
  • Maria Angélica Pereira de Carvalho Costa Universidade Federal do Recôncavo da Bahia
  • Carlos Alfredo Lopes de Carvalho Universidade Federal do Recôncavo da Bahia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.13102/sociobiology.v66i2.3427

Keywords:

Stingless bee, melissopalynology, ecological index, flora

Abstract

The floristic composition of an environment is important to ensure the trophic niche of bee species. Melipona scutellaris Latreille, is a typical stingless bee of Atlantic rainforest sites in northeastern Brazil, a region widely established in meliponaries for honey and pollen production. M. scutellaris is reared (meliponiculture) in rural and urban areas, where the species depends on the availability of different plants for nectar and pollen collection. In this study, we estimated food niche width, equitativity, and similarity between different colonies of M. scutellaris in highly urbanized and industrialized sites of the Metropolitan Region of Salvador, Bahia State, Brazil. We analyzed pollen spectrum of 58 honey samples from six meliponaries, during 12 months. We identified 111 pollen types distributed in 28 plant families. The Fabaceae family showed the highest diversity in pollen types (33.33% of the total) and Mimosa caesalpiniifolia was the most frequent pollen type, found in 100% of the samples. M. scutellaris concentrated its foraging activity on a few trophic resources (H’ = 2.69 and J’ = 0.01) indicating a few melittophilous plant species belonging to the genera Eucalyptus, Mimosa, Protium, Serjania and Tapirira, should be managed on a regional scale to favor meliponiculture with this native bee species.

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Published

2019-08-20

How to Cite

Andrade, B. R., Nascimento, A. S. do, Franco, E. L., Santos, D. R. dos, Alves, R. M. de O., Costa, M. A. P. de C., & Carvalho, C. A. L. de. (2019). Pollen Spectrum and Trophic Niche Width of Melipona scutellaris Latreille, 1811 (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in Highly Urbanized and Industrialized Sites. Sociobiology, 66(2), 279–286. https://doi.org/10.13102/sociobiology.v66i2.3427

Issue

Vol. 66 No. 2 (2019)

Section

Research Article - Bees

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