Abstract
The native carpenter bee Xylocopa varipuncta frequently made and re-used piercings in tubular corolla bases of nonnative, nectarless Hemerocallis ‘Stella de Oro’ (Stella de Oro Daylily, HSDO) in the Cesar E. Chavez Memorial Plaza in downtown Sacramento, California. The bees frequently visited HSDO flowers from mid-morning through late afternoon in August 2014 during the 3-yr, severe California drought. Their foraging bouts were up to 10 floral visits, and they were evidently obtaining cell fluid. Nonnative Apis mellifera extended their proboscides through the piercings, acting as secondary cell-fluid robbers. They also may have pollinated HSDO when they collected its pollen. Hemerocallis-flower piercing by native X. virginica virginica is apparently rare, but in the Wehawken Nature Preserve in Bethesda, Maryland, a female pierced succulent, nectarless flowers of two other Hemerocallis cultivars and three unnamed seedlings, possibly obtaining cell-fluid, learning that the flowers did not have nectar, or both during the wet summer of 2015.
Highlights
Some species of ants, bumble bees, carpenter bees, flowerpiercer birds, hummingbirds, mammals, stingless bees, and wasps are primary nectar robbers which make holes, piercings, and slits in floral corolla tubes through which they and secondary nectar robbers, which do not make such openings, imbibe nectar (Barrows 1980; Barrows et al 2013)
The main aim of this study is to describe the frequent flower piercing of such flowers by female X. varipuncta (Valley Carpenter Bee), proboscis probing of these piercings by workers of Apis mellifera (Western Honey Bee) in California, and rare piercing of such flowers by X. virginica virginica (Eastern Carpenter Bee) in Maryland
I observed rare, daylily floral piercing by an unworn female X. virginica virginica on the warm, sunny day of 7 July 2015 during a wet summer in the Wehawken Nature Preserve in Bethesda, Maryland
Summary
Bumble bees, carpenter bees, flowerpiercer birds, hummingbirds, mammals, stingless bees, and wasps are primary nectar robbers which make holes, piercings, and slits in floral corolla tubes through which they and secondary nectar robbers, which do not make such openings, imbibe nectar (Barrows 1980; Barrows et al 2013). These robbers cannot reach nectar in long-corolla bases because their tongues are too short. This is the first report regarding frequent nectarless-flower piercing and apparent cell-fluid feeding by bees
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
