Species Of Ceratina Research Articles

Taxonomy of South American species of Ceratina (Calloceratina) Cockerell, 1924 with comments on new species-groups proposed for this subgenus (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Xylocopinae)

Two new species of the small carpenter bee genus Ceratina (Calloceratina) Cockerell, 1924 are described and illustrated. Ceratina (Calloceratina) mourei new species, and Ceratina (Calloceratina) silveirai new species, form the silveirai species-group, a very distinct set within the subgenus C. (Calloceratina). The taxonomy of South American species was approached, being redescribed and illustrated the species Ceratina (Calloceratina) chloris (Fabricius, 1804) and Ceratina (Calloceratina) triangulifera Cockerell, 1914, proposing the chloris species-group for them. The diagnosis for the subgenus Calloceratina is presented and an identification key for the South American species is also proposed.

Pollinator activity and their role on seed set of medicinal and aromatic Lamiaceae plants

Lamiaceae is one of the most economically important plant families based on their aromatic, medicinal, and industrial significance. In the present study three species of the Lamiaceae subfamily, Nepetoideae (Ocimum basillicum, Nepeta cateria, Leucas aspera) and one species from Lamioideae (Rosmarinus officinalis) were selected to document the pollinator bee diversity, foraging behavior, and their role on seed set. Thirty-two species of bees representing three families of Hymenoptera, (Apidae (94.87%) followed by Megachilidae (3.74%) and Halictidae (1.40%) were observed in all four plant species. Non-Apis bees were more abundant (69.35%) than Apis species (30.65%). The species-level variation in pollinator bees was observed in each plant species irrespective of space, time, and environmental conditions. O. basillicum attracted the maximum number of pollinator species (22) followed by R. officinalis (14) and L. aspera (10) and N. cataria (5). In O. basillicum, Ceratina species were major flower visitors, whereas R. officinalis was mainly visited by both Ceratina and Apis sp. L. aspera was dominated by Amegilla species and N. cataria mostly visited by the Apis bee species. However, irrespective of the diversity, the abundance of pollinator activity mainly contributed to enhancing the maximum number of seeds set in each species up to 64% overall increase under open pollination compared to bagged conditions. Also, a significant reduction in the seed set percentage was observed in R. officinalis and L. aspera under bagged pollination conditions. This indicates the high dependency of Lamiaceae plants on bee pollinators to maintain their reproduction and regeneration activities.

Overwintering strategy and longevity of European small carpenter bees (Ceratina)

Aculeate Hymenoptera have two modes of overwintering. In solitary species, adults usually do not emerge before winter and overwinter in their natal nests. In the majority of social species, adults activate before winter and only inseminated females perform overwintering. We examined the winter survival strategy in four species of small carpenter bees (Ceratina) in which both sexes activate before winter and overwinter as adults. All of the species studied are able to use their old nests, nests of other Ceratina species, or newly excavated burrows for overwintering. However, the species differ in their strategy. Ceratina cucurbitina usually overwintered in social hibernacula with a large number of individuals, but social hibernation was less often present in C. nigrolabiata. On the other hand, individuals of C. chalybea and C. cyanea overwintered predominantly solitary. Interestingly, we detected female individuals that attempted to overwinter for a second time in all species. Surprisingly, males of C. nigrolabiata and C. chalybea are also able to overwinter for a second time in rare cases. These males lived for more than 1.5 years; therefore, they are the longest living bee-males known to date.

A new species of Ceratina (Ceratinula) Moure, 1941, with notes on the taxonomy and distribution of Ceratina (Ceratinula) manni Cockerell, 1912, and an identification key for species of this subgenus known from Brazil (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Ceratinini).

A new species of the small carpenter bee, genus Ceratina (Ceratinula) Moure, from the Cerrado Biome in midwestern Brazil is described and illustrated. Ceratina (Ceratinula) fioreseana Oliveira, sp. nov. is easily distinguished from its congeners by the size of the facial maculations and the honey-yellow color of the legs and antennal scape, which distinguish it especially from Ceratina (Ceratinula) manni Cockerell, 1912, the most similar species in terms of facial maculation patterns. The geographic records of C. manni, here interpreted as endemic to the semiarid Caatinga region in northeastern Brazil, are presented, with new records for the Brazilian states of Piauí, Ceará and Bahia. A morphological description of both species is provided, including a comparison with the type specimen of C. manni from the state of Paraíba (Guarabira, formerly named Independencia). An identification key is provided for the described species of Ceratina (Ceratinula) recorded for Brazil according to Moure’s Catalogue of Neotropical Bees.

Observations on Nests of Ceratina in Costa Rica (Hymenoptera, Apoidea)

Ceratina ignara appears to be active and probably provisions nests throughout the year although all the nests studied were found in March. The principal features of the nest that differ from those of certain other species of Ceratina are as follows: no very long cells, empty cells or double partitions between cells; partitions concave below, not aboye; pollen mass firm, concave on outrer surface, with margins not amate; thickness of pollen mass rather uniform. The principal features of the nest of C. (Ceratinula) sp. that differ from those of certain other species are: very short cell series suggesting construction of two or more nests by each female; no very long cells, few empty cells or double partitions; partitions very thin and slightly concave on both surfaces; polien mass firm, scarcely longer than broad, margins rounded.

Invasive range expansion of the small carpenter bee, Ceratina dentipes (Hymenoptera: Apidae) into Hawaii with implications for native endangered species displacement

The small carpenter bee, Ceratina (Neoceratina) dentipes, is an invasive species throughout the South Pacific and has been identified as one of three alien Ceratina species established in Hawaii. Invasive bees are thought to be exacerbating declines of Hawaii’s native yellow-faced bees (Hylaeus) but, outside of the honey bee (Apis mellifera), relatively little empirical work has been done to track the origins and avenues of introduction for these species. Extant research addressing C. dentipes is limited, but suggests that it is a rapidly moving invasive, morphologically similar to both native and non-native bees within its introduced ecosystems, and may be capable of parthenogenic reproduction. Ceratina dentipes thus represents a potentially serious conservational challenge for terrestrial ecosystems throughout the Pacific. Here, we perform the first comprehensive phylogeographic assessment of C. dentipes, drawing from invasive populations across Hawaii and the South Pacific, and from native populations in Southeast Asia. Bayesian phylogenetic reconstruction and analyses of molecular variation both indicate that C. dentipes is very recently introduced in Hawaii. Analyses also reveal that invasive populations of C. dentipes likely originated in Borneo or mainland Southeast Asia before being widely and rapidly dispersed, most likely through anthropogenic transport.

Climatic variation across a latitudinal gradient affect phenology and group size, but not social complexity in small carpenter bees

Greater social complexity at lower latitudes has been observed in a variety of arthropods from termites to spiders. Social behavior in the small carpenter bees, Ceratina, has been shown to vary widely both between species and across geographic range. Our goal was to determine how social plasticity of three populations of Ceratina species, C. calcarata and C. strenua, vary across a latitudinal gradient. The longer rearing season in the south did not result in two separate brood rearing periods, but instead increased brood production of a single brood with a higher female sex bias. The social structure of nests remained stable across both species’ ranges: mothers exhibit prolonged parental care and worker dwarf eldest daughters occur among populations and species. This is the first report of worker daughters in C. strenua. The ubiquity of worker daughter production in eastern North American Ceratina suggests that factors outside of climate underlie the early division of labor between the reproductive mother and worker dwarf eldest daughter.

日本産ツヤハナバチ(Ceratina)属の生態 : I.金沢大学構内におけるCeratina属3種の生態

日本産ツヤハナバチ(Ceratina)属の生態 : I.金沢大学構内におけるCeratina属3種の生態

Evidence for social nesting in Neotropical ceratinine bees

Small carpenter bees (Ceratinini) are a key taxon to understanding the transition from subsocial to social behaviour, as all documented groups are long-lived and tend to their young periodically throughout development, though the behaviour of multiple lineages is little known. This study provides the first evidence for social nesting in three Neotropical species of Ceratina (Ceratinula) from Panama. Social nesting was associated with nest reuse, consistent with the hypothesis of kin associations, and the proportion of nests (per species) that displayed sociality was as follows: C. buscki 5 %; C. rectangulifera 0 %; C. tricolor 6 %; and C. zeteki 23 %. Sociality is always a low-frequency phenomenon in ceratinine bee populations, and generally represents a third or less of the population. The fact that the majority of colonies remain solitary indicates that solitary nesting is adaptive in the studied species.

The costs and benefits of sociality in a facultatively social bee

The evolution of social behaviour from solitary antecedents has traditionally been attributed to inclusive fitness benefits. Direct fitness components account for individuals' lifetime reproductive success through the production of offspring. In contrast, indirect fitness components account for the transmission of genes via aiding relatives and may explain apparent altruism among some members of social groups. Hamilton's rule gives the conditions under which altruism may evolve, but measuring the parameters in Hamilton's rule has proved to be very difficult for most social species. Here we quantify direct and indirect fitness in a facultatively social bee, Ceratina australensis, capable of both solitary and social nesting. Social colonies of this species contain one reproductive (the primary) and one nonreproductive female (the secondary), and it is therefore straightforward to measure the lifetime fitness of each individual. In the absence of the primary, the secondary female is fully capable of reproduction and produces equivalent numbers of offspring as solitary females. Per capita brood production was lower in social colonies than solitary nests. We found that inclusive fitness arguments do not explain social nesting in this bee. Moreover, social nesting cannot be attributed to subfertility or manipulation. The frequency of natal nest reuse is highly correlated with the frequency of social nesting in this and other Ceratina species. In other words, social nesting might be influenced by dispersal patterns and latent genetic differences in any tendency for natal philopatry. We argue that for C. australensis and perhaps many species with simple forms of sociality, life history traits such as nest reuse and natal philopatry are key selective factors for the origin of group living. Future work on this and other Ceratina species will reveal genetic, life history and ecological correlates with transitions in social evolution and their potential causes.

Morphological and molecular delineation of a new species in the Ceratina dupla species-group (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Xylocopinae) of eastern North America

DNA barcoding is used to verify characters to morphologically differentiate genetically distinct species of eastern North American small carpenter bees, Ceratina. Here we reveal that the common eastern North American species, Ceratina dupla s. l., is actually three separate species based on fixed differences in DNA barcode sequences and morphological characters. This study adds a new species, C. mikmaqi Rehan & Sheffield, to the Ceratina dupla species-group of eastern North America, and raises another form, C. floridana formerly C. dupla floridana, to full species. Temporal niche partitioning between C. dupla and C. mikmaqi and geographic isolation of C. floridana further support the division of the C. dupla s. l. group into three species. A diagnosis and description of the new species are provided, as is a key for eastern North American species of Ceratina.

Evidence of Social Nesting in the Ceratina of Borneo (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

The bee tribe Ceratinini is important for understanding early stages in social evolution. Their extant sister tribe Allodapini contains no strictly solitary species, and while some Ceratinini are commonly regarded as solitary, little behavioural data exist to substantiate this. Studies on Asian congeners have shown recurrent sociality in temperate and subtropical ranges while behavioural data are lacking in tropical regions. Field work along the west coast of Borneo in Sarawak, Malaysia, has provided some insight into these tropical taxa. Here we describe the nesting biology and social behaviour of four taxonomically described yet behaviourally unclassified Ceratina species. These four species are from three subgenera, namely Ceratina (Ceratinidia) accusator Cockerell, C. (Ceratinidia) nigrolateralis Cockerell, C. (Neoceratina) dentipes Friese, C. (Pithitis) smaragdula Fabricius. Nests of all species were typically attended by an adult female while all species except C. accusator had a low frequency of multi-female nesting assemblages. The four tropical ceratinines described here and all other behaviourally classified species exhibit recurrent patterns of maternal care, maternal longevity, and nest protection. Prolonged parental care found across the genus and occasional transitions into sociality make Ceratina of future interest for the study of life history and social evolution. The evolution of eusociality is considered one of the major transitions in evolution (Maynard Smith and Szathamary, 1995). In solitary species, offspring disperse and reproduce independently whereas workers in eusocial societies remain at the natal nest and largely forego reproduction to aid the queen in rearing siblings. Socially polymorphic lineages, those containing both solitary and social species, retain the plasticity to allow intra-specific comparisons of solitary with social life. The key to understanding the transition to sociality requires a group of closely related taxa possessing broad social, taxonomic and geographic diversity. Bees provide numerous contrasts to offer insights into the origin of sociality with their range of solitary to social forms. The small carpenter bees Hymenoptera: Apidae (Xylocopinae: Ceratinini) are commonly regarded as solitary (Michener, 1974). All behaviourally classified species share a relatively simple life history. Females disperse from their natal nests and find appropriate nesting substrate. These twig-nesting bees excavate linear burrows in the cores of dead exposed pithy stems. Subsequent to burrow construction, females forage for pollen and nectar provisions that they form into a pollen mass on which they lay an egg. After provisioning and oviposition, brood cells are cappe dw ith a partition of wood pith, and the process is repeated in a serial manner along the linear nest chamber.

Ceratina (Ceratinidia) compacta, a Small Carpenter Bee in Thailand: An Apparent Recent Addition to the Fauna (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

This paper records the existence in Thailand of Ceratina compacta Smith, 1879 (Hymenoptera: Apidae), a species known previously only from the Philippines. Thai records of Ceratina species span several previous decades. The subgenus Ceratinidia Cockerell and Porter, 1899, to which C. compacta belongs, is one of the eight subgenera of Ceratina found in the Oriental Region (Terzo, 2000). This group of ca. 26 species (Michener, 2000) ranges from India to Papua New Guinea (west to east) and from the Maritime Province of Siberia to Indonesia (north to south) (Hirashima, 1971). The species are usually considered solitary, but some species express primitive social behavior (Michener, 1990; Maeta, 1993; Maeta and Sakagami, 1995; Sakagami and Maeta, 1995). Ceratina species visit and probably pollinate many flowers. They use their stems and other dead stems as nest sites. It is probably for this reason that several species of the genus are adventives in various areas, e.g., species in subgenera Calloceratina (from Mexico to Texas, Michener, 2000), Neoceratina (from Old World to Hawaii, Snelling, 2003), and Euceratina (from Europe to California and from Southwestern US to Hawaii, Michener, 2000; Snelling, 2003). Ceratinidia species are medium-sized to small bees with shiny black bodies maculated with striking yellow patterns. As shown by van der Vecht (1952), C. compacta has been recorded only from the Philippine Islands, where it is a common and well known species (Smith, 1879; Ashmead, 1904; Cockerell, 1915, 1916, 1918, 1920a, b, 1925a, b; Hedicke, 1927; van der Vecht, 1952). Ceratina compacta morphologically resembles its presumed sister species, C. lieftincki van der Vecht, 1952, known from Indochina, the Malay Peninsula, Java, and Palawan. In C. lieftincki, the antennal scape is black and the mesopleura less densely punctured than in C. compacta (see Table 2 for other comparable characters). The two species are distinguishable from other Ceratinidia species in Thailand by various characters, see revision of the subgenus (Warrit, in prep.). Among 1345 museum specimens of Ceratinidia examined, no specimen of C. compacta was from regions other than Thailand and the Philippines, excepting one specimen from Northern Sulawesi (another new distributional record outside of the Philippines). Eighty-eight specimens of C. compacta from the Philippines Islands and 12 specimens from Thailand were examined. The first specimen of C. compacta from Thailand is a male labeled Thailand: Kanchanaburi: 110 air km W of Bangkok 25-27 April 1988, W. J. Pulawski collector (California Academy of Sciences collection). Subsequent collecting localities for C. compacta in Thailand are shown in Figure 1 and Table 1. Natural habitats for C. compacta collected by the author are mostly either in agricultural areas or recovered forest where the primary vegetation was destroyed. Many specimens of other Ceratinidia species were collected in Thailand before 1988 (I have seen 38 such specimens), yet not a single C. compacta was found before that date. Species of Ceratinidia found in historical collections from Thailand are Ceratina (Ceratinidia) accusator Cockerell, C. bryanti Cockerell, C. cognata Smith, C. collusor Cockerell, C. lieftincki van der Vecht; and C. nigrolateralis Cockerell. Populations of C. compacta vary in the Philippines (van der Vecht, 1952; Warrit, pers. obs.), but a definitive conclusion as to the island from which the Thai population originated cannot be confirmed. However, because Ceratina nest in plant stems, importation of local floral materials containing nests of C. compacta from the Philippines may have caused the introduction of the species into Thailand. The possibility that C. compacta in Thailand represents a new species cannot be completely eliminated until substantial numbers of specimens of both sexes from various localities in the Philippines and Thailand are available for morphological and molecular

Isolation and characterization of microsatellite loci in the bee Ceratina flavipes

AbstractPolymorphic microsatellite markers can provide essential information on genetic analyses of sociality and mating behaviour of insects. We developed eight microsatellite loci in the small carpenter bee, Ceratina flavipes, using a magnetic bead hybridization enrichment protocol. These loci showed two to eight alleles with expected heterozygosity of 0.21–0.87, and also seemed useful to such congeneric species as Ceratina okinawana distributed in southern Japan. By using these loci, the sociality and mating systems in Ceratina species, that are still controversial, are possible to be analysed.

A molecular phylogeny and social behaviour of Japanese Ceratina (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Xylocopinae)

AbstractPrimitively eusocial insect are often considered particularly useful for investigations into the processes underlying the origins of eusociality. Ceratinine bees have long been regarded as solitary, but sometimes exhibit oddly social traits for solitary species, while other species are known to be social, and social behaviour has been artificially induced in others still (Maeta & Sakagami 1995; Sakagami & Maeta 1995). Recent studies have had some success in elucidating aspects of the evolution of social behaviour in some groups using phylogenetics to infer historical changes in social behaviour (eg: Danforth 2002; Schwarz et al. 2003; Bull et al. 2003). Phylogenetic treatments of Ceratina have only recently been attempted in earnest (Terzo 2000) and behavioural data is lacking for many Ceratina species. Nonetheless, the Japanese fauna represents some of the most comprehensively studied Ceratina, and this study uses nucleotide data from mitochondrial COI and CytB and nuclear EF-1α regions to infer a phylogeny of Japanese Ceratina species. Data give good resolution for the subgeneric groups, and provide some support for the recent morphological phylogeny of Terzo (2000), but little resolution for higher relationships. Behavioural data suggest that sociality is variable within subgenera. The diversity and primitive nature of social behaviour in this group make it one of the most promising to provide insights into the process of social evolution, but more data are clearly needed.

Task allocation and reproductive skew in social mass provisioning carpenter bees in relation to age and size

The mass provisioning carpenter bees comprise two tribes, the Xylocopini and the Ceratinini. Although social nesting occurs in both tribes, no morphological castes have evolved and females are totipotent, which makes the tribe as a whole highly suitable to test predictions of reproductive skew models. We review current information for the two tribes with respect to reproductive competition and reproductive skew and then investigate whether the observed skew fits with predictions from optimal skew theory. Social nests of Xylocopa species include a non-foraging guard and a foraging egg layer who completely dominates reproduction. Reproductive dominance is settled by aggression, and the probability of winning this fight is influenced by both age and size. In Ceratina species, task allocation is also very clear: one female guards the nest, while the other female(s) forage(s). Although the guard is usually the first to produce an egg, her eggs are frequently replaced by those of the forager, and skew is incomplete. ¶Using comparisons between species and genera the impact of ecological constraints on solitary nesting, relative group productivity and relatedness on reproductive partitioning between dominants and subordinates are investigated in a qualitative way. In support of the optimal skew model, strong constraints on solitary nesting coincided with strong skew. However, the predicted effects of relatedness and group productivity on skew were not found. Furthermore, no support was found for the predictions of the optimal skew model that high skew coincides with frequent aggressive testing and risky task performance by subordinates.

Taxonomy and ecology of Ceratinini of North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula (Hymenoptera: Apoidea)

Abstract A key, synonymy, descriptions and distributions are given for twelve species of Ceratina (Euceratina), including three new species, C.maghrebensis, C.neocallosa, C.saundersi; two species of Ceratina (Ceratina, s.s.); and two species of Pithitis. A neotype is designated for C.callosa and lectotypes for C.callosa algeriensis, C.chalybea, C.cyanea imitatrix, C.decolorans, C.laevifrons moricei, C.mocsaryi and C.nigrolabiata. Ecology of bees in overwintering nests in Tunisia is discussed. Evidence is given for congeneric interference competition for nesting substrates and resource partitioning. C.dallatorreana is shown to reproduces probably entirely by thelytoky and thus is unique among Apoidea.

Some presumably presocial habits of JapaneseCeratina bees, with notes on various social types in Hymenoptera

Some Japanese species ofCeratina bees exhibit habits which seem to be precursors to social life, namely: 1) Removal of larval feces by the mother, accompanied by destruction and reconstruction of cell partitions. 2) Transport of immatures within nest. 3) Guarding by the mother at the nest entrance, which is effective in protecting the immatures from parasites. 4) Association of the mother and juvenile adults in autumn, with pollen intake by juveniles from the mother, and 5) Prolonged life span of some females, followed by brood rearing in the second year.

Distributional Patterns of Selected Western North American Insects: Distributional Patterns of Bees of the Genus Ceratina

The geographic distribution of nine species of Ceratina (C. dallatorreana Friese, C. tejonensis Cresson, C. punetigena Cockerell, C. gigantea H. S. Smith, C. sequoiae Michener, C. arizonensis Cockerell, C. acantha Provancher, C. neomexicana Cockerell, and C. pacifica H. S. Smith) was compared with various climatological and biogeographic divisions of Western North America. Emphasis was placed on the distribution of eight species (excluding C. neomexicana) in California. Only the major features are listed here. When compared to Köppen's classification of climates (map in Ackerman, 1941), the “Csa” or warm temperate rainy climate with dry hot summers was inhabited by all eight of the species. Other climates favored were “Dsb” and “Csb.” Of the various subdivisions of Thornthwaite's classification (1931), “BBs” or humid mesothermal climate with rain deficient in summer, “CBs” or sub-humid mesothermal climate with summer deficiency, and “DBs” or semiarid mesothermal climate with summer deficiency, each possessed at least seven species.