Eufriesea Violacea Research Articles

Euglossine bees (Hymenoptera, Apidae) in a remnant of Atlantic Forest in Paraná State, Brazil

Species composition, relative abundance, seasonal changes in the species abundance and scent association of male Euglossini collected in a semi-deciduous forest fragment in the north of the State of Paraná, southern Brazil, were recorded. Euglossine males were collected twice a month, for twelve months, from 8:00 am to 3:00 pm. The scents eucalyptol, eugenol, vanillin, methyl salicylate and benzyl acetate were used as baits. A total of 434 males distributed among 3 genera and 9 species were attracted to the chemical baits. Eufriesea violacea (Blanchard, 1840) (49.8%), Eulaema nigrita Lepeletier, 1841 (23.0%) and Euglossa pleosticta Dressler, 1982 (13.8%) were dominant in number of individuals. Among the non-dominant species, Euglossa fimbriata Rebêlo & Moure, 1995 was more common (9.0%), followed by E. cordata (L., 1758) (1.8%), E. truncata Rebêlo & Moure, 1995 (1.4%), E. melanotricha Moure, 1967 (0.7%), E. townsendi Cockerell, 1904 (0.23%) and Eufriesea auriceps Friese, 1899 (0.23%). In general, bees were more abundant in warm-wet season (September-March). Eufriesea violacea was the most seasonal species, showing activity through the warm-wet season, from October to February. Eucalyptol was the most attractive fragrance, which was responsible for 92.6% of all visits by euglossine bees.

Karyotype and C-and G-Banding Patterns of Eufriesea Violacea (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Euglossinae)

Euglossinae represent an exclusively neotropical bee group, the cytogenetics of which is poorly known. We have studied ten specimens of Eufriesea violacea, nine males (K = 15 M) and one female (2K = 30 M). C-banding revealed constitutive heterochromatin throughout the extension of the long arm of 13 chromosome pairs. The end of the long arm had a lighter region in two chromosome pairs. The proximal region of the centromere of the short arm of all chromosomes was also heterochromatic. G-banding revealed three to four positive bands in both the heterochromatic and euchromatic regions of most chromosomes. The small number of G bands per chromosome can perhaps be explained by the structural arrangement of chromatin and they do not need to correspond to chromomeric regions.