Abstract
The nesting biology and social behavior of the euglossine bee species Euglossa melanotricha was analyzed based on the monitoring of eight nests found in man-made cavities and transferred to observation boxes. Euglossa melanotricha females usually construct their nests in cavities in the ground, in buildings, or in mounds. In this study, we present new data on the nesting biology of E. melanotricha. The process of reactivation of nests was commonly observed with one to three females participating in the reactivation. The duration of the process of reactivation ranged from 10 to 78 days (n = 31) and were longer during the rainy season. Time spent (in days) for provisioning, oviposition and closing a single cell was higher in reactivations that occurred during the dry period.151 emergences were observed (39 males and 112 females). 90 (80.3%) of the emerged females returned to the natal nest, but only 35 (38.9%) remained and actively participated in the construction and provisioning of cells. The other 55 abandoned the nests after several days without performing any work in the nest. Matrifilial nest structure was regulated by dominance-subordinate aggressive behavior among females, where the dominant female laid almost all eggs. Task allocation was recognized by behavioral characteristics, namely, agonism and oophagy in cells oviposited by other females. Euglossa melanotricha is multivoltine and its nesting is asynchronous with respect to season. Our observations suggest a primitively eusocial organization. These observations of E. melanotricha provide valuable information for comparison with other species of Euglossa in an evolutionary context.
Highlights
The bees of the tribe Euglossini are the only members of the corbiculate bees that do not form large colonies with a typical queen and worker caste (Soucy et al 2003)
The exploitation of pre-existing cavities for the construction of nests observed in Euglossa melanotricha is a behavior typical of most Euglossa species (Garófalo 1985, Augusto and Garófalo 2004, 2009, 2010), with the exception of those that construct aerial nests, such as E. hyacinthina, E. championi (Eberhard 1988), E. turbinifex (Dressler 1982, Young 1985), and E. dodsoni (Riveros et al 2009)
The replacement of the dominant female by a subordinate female is consistent with the hypothesis of an age-based dominance hierarchy, as occurs in other primitively eusocial bee species (Michener et al 1971, Kumar 1975, Eickwort 1986, Yanega 1989, Schwarz and O’Keefe 1991, Schwarz and Woods 1994, Arneson and Wcislo 2003, Augusto and Garófalo 2009, 2010)
Summary
The bees of the tribe Euglossini are the only members of the corbiculate bees that do not form large colonies with a typical queen and worker caste (Soucy et al 2003). The genus Euglossa consists of 129 known species (Nemésio and Rasmussen 2011) These include solitary, communal and social species (Dressler 1982, Young 1985, Roberts and Dodson 1967, Garófalo et al 1998, Soucy et al 2003, Otero et al 2008). The latter include those that form multi-female nests with a division of labor and overlapping generations (Garófalo 1985, Ramírez-Arriaga et al 1996, Augusto and Garófalo 2004, 2010, Cocom Pech et al 2008). Some species construct aerial nests (Roubik and Hanson 2004, Capaldi et al 2007), while others exploit existing cavities found in both natural substrates, such as the soil (Bodkin 1918, Augusto and Garófalo 2007), termite mounds (Sakagami et al 1967), bamboo stems (Garófalo et al 1993), orchid roots (Roberts and Dodson 1967), and abandoned bees nests (Garófalo 1985, 1992), and man-made structures, including walls (Janvier 1955), bait boxes (Vázquez and Aguiar 1990), and abandoned hydraulic installations (Gonzales and Gaiani 1990)
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