The effect of toxic nectar and pollen from Spathodea campanulata on the worker survival of Melipona fasciculata Smith and Melipona seminigra Friese, two Amazonian stingless bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Meliponini)

Spathodea campanulata is an African plant introduced into South America and other tropical and subtropical areas for ornamental purposes. This plant has been linked to insect mortality, bees included. However, its effects on the Neotropical Melipona are as yet unknown. Thus, the aim of this study wa...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Sociobiology (Chico, CA) CA), 2014-12, Vol.61 (4), p.536-540
Main Authors: Queiroz, Ana Carolina Martins, Contrera, Felipe Andrés Leon, Venturieri, Giorgio Cristino
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Apidae
Hymenoptera
Melipona
meliponiculture
meliponine bees
Meliponini
plant toxicity
Spathodea campanulata
survival
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Summary:Spathodea campanulata is an African plant introduced into South America and other tropical and subtropical areas for ornamental purposes. This plant has been linked to insect mortality, bees included. However, its effects on the Neotropical Melipona are as yet unknown. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of S. campanulata nectar and pollen on the survival of Melipona fasciculata Smith and Melipona seminigra Friese workers. A total of 120 newly emerged workers of each species were divided into groups of 10 individuals and confined in boxes. They were submitted to the following diet treatments: S. campanulata nectar or 11% sucrose solution (nectar control); 11% sucrose solution and S. campanulata pollen or 11% sucrose solution and the species' original pollen (pollen control). A higher mortality of workers was detected in the groups fed with toxics nectar and pollen (M. fasciculata, p
ISSN:0361-6525
2447-8067
DOI:10.13102/sociobiology.v61i4.536-540