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Pollen Resources Used by Two Species of Stingless Bees (Meliponini) in a Tropical Dry Forest of Southern Ecuador

Pollinators are crucial for ecosystem functionality; however, little is known about the plant species used by some of these, such as stingless bees. In this study, for the first time, pollen resources used by Melipona mimetica Cockerell (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Meliponini) and Scaptotrigona sp. Moure (...

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Autores principales: Gaona, Fernando P, Guerrero, Anthony, Gusmán, Elizabeth, Espinosa, Carlos Iván
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Oxford University Press 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6920062/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31853551
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jisesa/iez125
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author Gaona, Fernando P
Guerrero, Anthony
Gusmán, Elizabeth
Espinosa, Carlos Iván
author_facet Gaona, Fernando P
Guerrero, Anthony
Gusmán, Elizabeth
Espinosa, Carlos Iván
author_sort Gaona, Fernando P
collection PubMed
description Pollinators are crucial for ecosystem functionality; however, little is known about the plant species used by some of these, such as stingless bees. In this study, for the first time, pollen resources used by Melipona mimetica Cockerell (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Meliponini) and Scaptotrigona sp. Moure (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Meliponini) were identified through analysis of corbicular pollen found on worker bees in a dry forest in southern Ecuador. In total, 68 pollen types were identified belonging to 31 botanical families. The most represented plant families were Fabaceae (16%), Malvaceae (7%), and Boraginaceae (7%). Both stingless bee species exhibited a polylectic behavior, with an average of 16 pollen types collected by individual bees. Differences in abundances of pollen types collected by each species indicated distinct uses for these two bee species.
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spelling pubmed-69200622019-12-23 Pollen Resources Used by Two Species of Stingless Bees (Meliponini) in a Tropical Dry Forest of Southern Ecuador Gaona, Fernando P Guerrero, Anthony Gusmán, Elizabeth Espinosa, Carlos Iván J Insect Sci Short Communication Pollinators are crucial for ecosystem functionality; however, little is known about the plant species used by some of these, such as stingless bees. In this study, for the first time, pollen resources used by Melipona mimetica Cockerell (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Meliponini) and Scaptotrigona sp. Moure (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Meliponini) were identified through analysis of corbicular pollen found on worker bees in a dry forest in southern Ecuador. In total, 68 pollen types were identified belonging to 31 botanical families. The most represented plant families were Fabaceae (16%), Malvaceae (7%), and Boraginaceae (7%). Both stingless bee species exhibited a polylectic behavior, with an average of 16 pollen types collected by individual bees. Differences in abundances of pollen types collected by each species indicated distinct uses for these two bee species. Oxford University Press 2019-12-18 /pmc/articles/PMC6920062/ /pubmed/31853551 http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jisesa/iez125 Text en © The Author(s) 2019. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. For commercial re-use, please contact journals.permissions@oup.com
spellingShingle Short Communication
Gaona, Fernando P
Guerrero, Anthony
Gusmán, Elizabeth
Espinosa, Carlos Iván
Pollen Resources Used by Two Species of Stingless Bees (Meliponini) in a Tropical Dry Forest of Southern Ecuador
title Pollen Resources Used by Two Species of Stingless Bees (Meliponini) in a Tropical Dry Forest of Southern Ecuador
title_full Pollen Resources Used by Two Species of Stingless Bees (Meliponini) in a Tropical Dry Forest of Southern Ecuador
title_fullStr Pollen Resources Used by Two Species of Stingless Bees (Meliponini) in a Tropical Dry Forest of Southern Ecuador
title_full_unstemmed Pollen Resources Used by Two Species of Stingless Bees (Meliponini) in a Tropical Dry Forest of Southern Ecuador
title_short Pollen Resources Used by Two Species of Stingless Bees (Meliponini) in a Tropical Dry Forest of Southern Ecuador
title_sort pollen resources used by two species of stingless bees (meliponini) in a tropical dry forest of southern ecuador
topic Short Communication
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6920062/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31853551
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jisesa/iez125
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