Current status of the introduced allodapine beeBraunsapis puangensis(Hymenoptera: Apidae) in Fiji

Abstract

During the last 150 years, incursions of non-native species have been prevalent throughout the South West Pacific. The allodapine bee, Braunsapis puangensis (Cockerell) (Xylocopinae: Allodapini), was introduced to Fiji between 1965 and 2003, most likely from India. Until very recently, little was known about its dispersal ability and subsequent geographical spread across Fiji. Our study greatly increases the geographical records of B.puangensis across Viti Levu, Fiji's largest island, as well as surrounding islands including Vanua Levu, Taveuni and Mana Island. We found that B.puangensis is present throughout all major regions of Viti Levu, and it appears to be highly vagile. In Fiji, we only found B.puangensis foraging on introduced plant species, but nesting in both native and introduced plant species. Increased pollination of weedy exotic plants by this bee could increase their abundance in Fiji. Populations of B.puangensis in Fiji require close monitoring to detect environmental effects including spread of invasive weed species and knock-on effects to ecosystem interactions.