Abstract
Flight activity of foragers of four colonies of Plebeia remota (Holmberg, 1903) was registered from December 1998 to December 1999, using an automated system (photocells and PLC system). The colonies originated from two different regions: Cunha, state of São Paulo, and Prudentópolis, state of Paraná, Brazil. Flight activity was influenced by different climatic factors in each season. In the summer, the intensity of the correlations between flight activity and climatic factors was smaller than in the other seasons. During the autumn and winter, solar radiation was the factor that most influenced flight activity, while in the spring, this activity was influenced mainly by temperature. Except in the summer, the various climatic factors similarly influenced flight activity of all of the colonies. Flight activity was not affected by geographic origin of the colonies. Information concerning seasonal differences in flight activity of P. remota will be useful for prediction of geographic distribution scenarios under climatic changes.
Highlights
As climate changes have already become evident and studies on their effects focus on plant-pollinator interactions (Hegland et al, 2009), the geographic distribution of these plants/pollinators (Opdam & Wascher, 2004), food production, and the different future scenarios based on predicted climate changes, we find that we know very little about the effects of abiotic conditions on flight activity of native stingless bees
Though the flight activity varied among seasons for all colonies, flight activity was positively correlated with solar radiation and negatively correlated with rainfall
There was a slight tendency towards increased flight activity in all colonies with increased wind speed in the fall, while it decreased with increased rainfall during all seasons
Summary
As climate changes have already become evident and studies on their effects focus on plant-pollinator interactions (Hegland et al, 2009), the geographic distribution of these plants/pollinators (Opdam & Wascher, 2004), food production, and the different future scenarios based on predicted climate changes, we find that we know very little about the effects of abiotic conditions on flight activity of native stingless bees. The influence of climate factors on flight activity of Meliponini bees has been the subject of some studies in recent years (Alves & Lorenzon, 2001; Hilário & Imperatriz-Fonseca, 2002; Contrera et al, 2004; Borges & Blochtein, 2005; Souza et al, 2006; Carvalho-Zilse et al, 2007; Cortopassi-Laurino et al, 2007; Fidalgo & Kleinert, 2007; Rodrigues et al, 2007; Ferreira-Junior et al, 2010; Nates-Parra & Rodríguez, 2011; Silva et al, 2011) All of these studies were done by visual observation, though instruments with photoelectric cells make it possible to automatically count bees (Buriolla, 1988). It is known that stingless bees use a higher diversity of food sources than do honey bees and have a greater diversity of foraging behaviors, pollinating both native and cultivated plants (Ramalho et al, 1990; Wilms & Wiechers, 1997; Kleinert et al, 2009)
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