Scaptotrigona Mexicana Research Articles

Melitopalynological Characterization of Apis mellifera L. (Apidae: Apini) Honey Samples in Northern Puebla State, Mexico

Abstract Honey samples belonging to Scaptotrigona mexicana Guerin and Apis mellifera L. from 10 localities in northern Puebla State were evaluated by means of melitopalynologic analysis. Pollen from nine plant taxa had values of importance (≥10%): Ageratum houstonianum Mill. (Compositae), Bursera spp. (Burseraceae), Coffea arabica L. (Rubiaceae), Muntingia cf. M. calabura L. (Tiliaceae), Heliocarpus donnell-smithii Rose (Tiliaceae), Miconia argentea DC. (Melastomataceae), Pimenta dioica (L.) Merr. (Myrtaceae), Quercus sp. (Fagaceae) and Vernonia sp. (Compositae). Honey samples of S. mexicana had relatively high numbers of pollen grains per gram and diversity indexes. Both stingless bee and honey bee samples suggested heterogeneous foraging behavior. In addition, high correlation indexes were registered between honey samples of S. mexicana and A. mellifera. Botanical relationships among S. mexicana (PAE: Parsimony Analysis of Endemism) honey samples were established by A. houstonianum, H. donell-smithii, M...

Experience, but not distance, influences the recruitment precision in the stingless bee Scaptotrigona mexicana

Recruitment precision, i.e. the proportion of recruits that reach an advertised food source, is a crucial adaptation of social bees to their environment. Studies with honeybees showed that recruitment precision is not a fixed feature, but it may be enhanced by factors like experience and distance. However, little is known regarding the recruitment precision of stingless bees. Hence, in this study, we examined the effects of experience and spatial distance on the precision of the food communication system of the stingless bee Scaptotrigona mexicana. We conducted the experiments by training bees to a three-dimensional artificial patch at several distances from the colony. We recorded the choices of individual recruited foragers, either being newcomers (foragers without experience with the advertised food source) or experienced (foragers that had previously visited the feeder). We found that the average precision of newcomers (95.6 +/- 2.61%) was significantly higher than that of experienced bees (80.2 +/- 1.12%). While this might seem counter-intuitive on first sight, this "loss" of precision can be explained by the tendency of experienced recruits to explore nearby areas to find new rewarding food sources after they had initially learned the exact location of the food source. Increasing the distance from the colony had no significant effect on the precision of the foraging bees. Thus, our data show that experience, but not the distance of the food source, affected the patch precision of S. mexicana foragers.

Are orphan Scaptotrigona mexicana workers attracted to physogastric queens?

Are orphan Scaptotrigona mexicana workers attracted to physogastric queens?

Cephalic and Dufour gland secretions ofScaptotrigona mexicanaqueens: Chemical composition and biological activity

Cephalic and Dufour gland secretions of virgin and physogastric queens of Scaptotrigona mexicana were analyzed by GC-MS. Worker responses to extracts and selected compounds identified in these secretions were evaluated in experimental hives. Cephalic secretions of virgin queens and 1-month-old physogastric queens are constituted of 2-ketones, 2-alcohols and esters, while the cephalic secretions of 1year-old physogastric queens are constituted of 2-alcohols and esters. Dufour gland secretions from virgin queens are mainly constituted of 2-alcohols, ketones, hydrocarbons and esters, while Dufour gland secretions from physogastric queens are mainly constituted of esters, where hexyl hexanoate is the major compound. Workers were significantly attracted to natural extracts and synthetic blends of selected compounds of the 1-year-old physogastric queen cephalic secretion as well as to a blend of enantiomeric 2-alcohols. Dufour gland secretion was not attractive to workers.

High precision during food recruitment of experienced (reactivated) foragers in the stingless bee Scaptotrigona mexicana (Apidae, Meliponini).

Several studies have examined the existence of recruitment communication mechanisms in stingless bees. However, the spatial accuracy of location-specific recruitment has not been examined. Moreover, the location-specific recruitment of reactivated foragers, i.e., foragers that have previously experienced the same food source at a different location and time, has not been explicitly examined. However, such foragers may also play a significant role in colony foraging, particularly in small colonies. Here we report that reactivated Scaptotrigona mexicana foragers can recruit with high precision to a specific food location. The recruitment precision of reactivated foragers was evaluated by placing control feeders to the left and the right of the training feeder (direction-precision tests) and between the nest and the training feeder and beyond it (distance-precision tests). Reactivated foragers arrived at the correct location with high precision: 98.44% arrived at the training feeder in the direction trials (five-feeder fan-shaped array, accuracy of at least +/-6 degrees of azimuth at 50 m from the nest), and 88.62% arrived at the training feeder in the distance trials (five-feeder linear array, accuracy of at least +/-5 m or +/-10% at 50 m from the nest). Thus, S. mexicana reactivated foragers can find the indicated food source at a specific distance and direction with high precision, higher than that shown by honeybees, Apis mellifera, which do not communicate food location at such close distances to the nest.

Optimum Brood Size for Artificial Propagation of the Stingless Bee, Scaptotrigona Mexicana

"Optimum Brood Size for Artificial Propagation of the Stingless Bee, Scaptotrigona Mexicana." Journal of Apicultural Research, 41(1-2), pp. 62–63Keywords: ApidaeMeliponinaetropical apiculturemeliponiculturestingless beesScaptotrigona mexicana

Learning and AdaptationCognitive Ecology: The Evolutionary Ecology of Information Processing and Decision Making. Reuven Dukas

Previous articleNext article No AccessNew Biological BooksLearning and Adaptation Cognitive Ecology: The Evolutionary Ecology of Information Processing and Decision Making. Reuven Dukas Lars ChittkaLars Chittka Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by The Quarterly Review of Biology Volume 74, Number 3Sep., 1999 Published in association with Stony Brook University Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/393166 Views: 2Total views on this site Citations: 3Citations are reported from Crossref Copyright 1999 The University of ChicagoPDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Daniel Sánchez, R Vandame Color and Shape Discrimination in the Stingless Bee Scaptotrigona mexicana Guérin (Hymenoptera, Apidae), Neotropical Entomology 41, no.33 (Apr 2012): 171–177.https://doi.org/10.1007/s13744-012-0030-3Sara J. Shettleworth Animal cognition and animal behaviour, Animal Behaviour 61, no.22 (Feb 2001): 277–286.https://doi.org/10.1006/anbe.2000.1606Sara J Shettleworth Cognitive ecology: field or label?, Trends in Ecology & Evolution 15, no.44 (Apr 2000): 161.https://doi.org/10.1016/S0169-5347(00)01827-9

Foraging ofNannotrigona testaceicornis, Trigona (Tetragonisca) angustula, Scaptotrigona mexicana and Plebeia sp. in the Tacanáregion, Chiapas, Mexico

Abstract The sources consumed by Nannotrigona testaceicornis (Na), Trigona (Tetragonisca) angustula (Te), Scaptotrigona mexicana (Sc) and Plebeia sp. (Pl) were studied at two localities in southeast Mexico: Unión Juárez (U.J.) and Santa Teresita (S.T.), by means of melissopalynological analyse of pollen, honey and larval food. A total of 246 samples were collected in an annual cycle from April (1987) to March (1988). The analyse showed that these native bees are polylectic. At U.J., 54 species of plants were important and there was an overlap of trophic niches in the four bee species when they collected nectar and pollen from Ageratum houstonianun, Alchornea latifolia, Tremna micrantha, Coffea arabica and Citrus limon. Two bee species foraged at 12 plant taxa, including Iresine celosia (Sc, Te), Vernonia canescens (Sc, Pl), Cercidium praecox (Na, Sc). At S.T. 65 taxa were important with an overlap in (Na, Te, Sc and Pl) at one nectaropolliniferous species: Sapindus saponaria. Three native bees collected at Spondias purpurea (Na, Pl, Sc) and Petiveria alliaceae (Na, Pl, Te). An overlap between two bee species occurred in 8 plant species. These included Mimosa orthocarpa (Na, Sc), Celtis iguanaea (Te, Na), Crossopetalum parvifolium (Sc, Te) and Heliocarpus donnell-smithii (Na, Pl). At both localities each bee species showed a preference for certain plants. In the larval food nectaropolliniferous and polliniferous species were important and three principal nourishment mechanisms were observed. Finally, swarming was only detected in Na at both localities from September (1987) to February (1988).