Abstract
Trigona spinipes Fabricius (Apidae: Meliponini), is a common stingless bee widely seen in urban and rural areas in Brazil, popularly known as irapuá, arapuá or bee-dog. Although these bees are considered pollinators of some cultivated plants, they are better known for the damage they cause in different crops. During experimental agroecological cultivation of Artemisia (Artemisia annua Linn, Asteraceae), in Jaguariúna (SP, Brazil), stingless bees Trigona spinipes (Fabricius) were observed sucking phloem sap directly from the plant, a phenomenon not yet described in scientific literature. This study aimed to register and describe the phloem sap-sucking behavior performed by T. spinipes for the first time, as well as to assess the potential impact of this behavior on A. annua cultivation. The behavior and the material collected by bees and the severity of attack were also analyzed. The aging and premature death of observed A. annua specimens occurred because of extensive lesions caused by T. spinipes, confirming the negative consequence of sap-sucking attacks of T. spinipes bees on the plants. Factors that could induce this unusual behavior were presented, pointing out the need for future studies on the development of strategies to protect plants, without causing damage to the T. spinipes bee populations, which are elements of Brazilian bee fauna and, therefore, protected by law
Highlights
Artemisia annua Linn (Asteraceae), popularly known as Artemisia, is a medicinal plant, originated from the Asian continent
The aim of this work was to register, for the first time, the phenomenon of the active phloem sap-sucking behavior performed by T. spinipes, as well as raise the potential impacts of this behavior on A. annua cultivation
An amorphous material in the corbicula of T. spinipes, which could have derived from the stem scraping, was observed
Summary
Artemisia annua Linn (Asteraceae), popularly known as Artemisia, is a medicinal plant, originated from the Asian continent. Leaves and flowers of these species are the source of essential oils and artemisinin, a molecule with anti-malarial and therapeutic potential for other diseases This shrub is usually singlestemmed reaching about 2 m in height with alternate branches, extremely vigorous, and usually free of disease and pest attacks (Jelodar, Bhatt, Mohamed, & Chan, 2014). Trigona spinipes (Fabricius, 1793) (Apidae: Meliponini), is a common widely distributed stingless bee in urban and rural areas in Brazil, commonly known as irapuá, arapuá or bee-dog These bees are considered pollinators of some cultivated plants (Freitas et al, 2014, Giannini et al, 2015), they are better known for the damage they cause in different crops (Giannini et al, 2015). The aim of this work was to register, for the first time, the phenomenon of the active phloem sap-sucking behavior performed by T. spinipes, as well as raise the potential impacts of this behavior on A. annua cultivation
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