The Life Histories of the "Uruçu Amarela" Males (Melipona flavolineata, Apidae, Meliponini)

Authors

  • Jamille Costa Veiga Laboratório de Biologia e Ecologia de Abelhas - Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém, Brazil http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7554-2785
  • Kamila Leão Leão Laboratório de Biologia e Ecologia de Abelhas - Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém, Brazil
  • Beatriz Woiski Coelho Coleção Institucional do Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi, Belém, Brazil
  • Ana Carolina Martins de Queiroz Laboratório de Botânica - Embrapa Amazônia Oriental, Belém, Brazil
  • Cristiano Menezes Laboratório de Botânica - Embrapa Amazônia Oriental, Belém, Brazil Embrapa Meio Ambiente
  • Felipe Andrés León Contrera Laboratório de Biologia e Ecologia de Abelhas - Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém, Brazil

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.13102/sociobiology.v65i4.3451

Keywords:

Congregation sites, stingless bees, sterile males, dimorphism

Abstract

Here we describe the life histories of adult males of the the Amazonian stingless bee Melipona flavolineata Friese, commonly known as “uruçu amarela”. Males reach sexual maturity inside nests, presenting seminal vesicles full of sperm cells and becoming able to fl y at a mean age of 10 and 15 days, respectively. They aggregate twice in their lives, once before leaving the nest, and another at external congregation sites, by using their capacity to reach congregation sites dependent on morphological attributes, such as large eyes and elongated thorax. Furthermore, we describe three atypical phenomena for Meliponini males: M. fl avolineata males have dimorphic color pattern; they lose their genital capsules, even when they fail to copulate; and penisless (sterile) males can stay alive for up to two days. The life history strategies of Meliponini males have only just started to be told and provide many interesting questions for future studies.

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References

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Published

2018-10-11

How to Cite

Veiga, J. C., Leão, K. L., Coelho, B. W., Queiroz, A. C. M. de, Menezes, C., & Contrera, F. A. L. (2018). The Life Histories of the "Uruçu Amarela" Males (Melipona flavolineata, Apidae, Meliponini). Sociobiology, 65(4), 780–783. https://doi.org/10.13102/sociobiology.v65i4.3451

Issue

Vol. 65 No. 4 (2018)

Section

Short Note

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