2 research outputs found
Long distance foraging and recruitment by a stingless bee, Melipona mandacaia
Body size is hypothesized to play a major role in animal
foraging, particularly in pollinators. In general, species with larger
bodies forage over greater distances. Studies have found support for this
body size-foraging range hypothesis across a wide variety of pollinator
species, but have not investigated the possibility that this effect also
applies within a pollinator species. We trained foragers of the stingless
bee Melipona mandacaia to feeders in their native habitat under natural conditions, and found
that larger foragers forage at and recruit to significantly greater
distances than smaller foragers. The maximum foraging and recruitment
distances are significantly greater (by 24% and 48% respectively) for
larger as compared to smaller foragers. We also provide the first direct
evidence that stingless bees can forage in their native habitat at distances
up to 2.1 km and recruit over 1 km from their nest, recruiting more than
230% farther than previously reported for any stingless bee feeder
experiments. Natural size variation among colonies within the same species
may play a role in foraging range, and could thus influence plant gene flow
and population structure
Long distance foraging and recruitment by a stingless bee, Melipona mandacaia
Body size is hypothesized to play a major role in animal
foraging, particularly in pollinators. In general, species with larger
bodies forage over greater distances. Studies have found support for this
body size-foraging range hypothesis across a wide variety of pollinator
species, but have not investigated the possibility that this effect also
applies within a pollinator species. We trained foragers of the stingless
bee Melipona mandacaia to feeders in their native habitat under natural conditions, and found
that larger foragers forage at and recruit to significantly greater
distances than smaller foragers. The maximum foraging and recruitment
distances are significantly greater (by 24% and 48% respectively) for
larger as compared to smaller foragers. We also provide the first direct
evidence that stingless bees can forage in their native habitat at distances
up to 2.1 km and recruit over 1 km from their nest, recruiting more than
230% farther than previously reported for any stingless bee feeder
experiments. Natural size variation among colonies within the same species
may play a role in foraging range, and could thus influence plant gene flow
and population structure