First Record of a Gynandromorph Orchid Bee, <i>Euglossa iopoecila</i> (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Euglossini)

Abstract This is a first description of a gynandromorph of an orchid bee, Euglossa iopoecila Dressier (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Euglossini). The specimen was collected at a chemical bait (eugenol) in an Atlantic Forest remnant in southern Brazil and shows a partial, bilateral asymmetry, with the right and left halves of the head displaying predominantly female and male characteristics, respectively. Except for the three left legs that show male morphology and a tuft of hairs detected only in the left side of second metasomal sternum (S2), the mesosoma and the metasoma exhibit female characteristics. The gynandromorph described here belongs to the mosaic or mixed category, because male and female characteristics are distributed patchily throughout the body of this individual. The main external morphological characteristics of the gynander are left and right antennae with 12 articles (like females), a mesosoma presenting a scutellar tuft (absent in males of this species), and a metasoma with six terga and six sterna that tapers to a point. Bilateral asymmetry in both metatibia is also noticeable: a normal corbicula is present in the right hind tibia, whereas the left hindleg brings a conspicuous deformation next to the tibial slit.</jats:p

Effects of habitat type change on taxonomic and functional composition of orchid bees (Apidae: Euglossini) in the Brazilian Amazon

© 2018, Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature. Land use change impact species richness and functional diversity (FD). In the Brazilian Amazon, we examined the impacts of oil palm plantations on orchid bee (Apidae: Euglossini) species using abundance and FD. We collected male orchid bees in oil palm plantation (PALM), legal reserves (LR), and riparian corridors (APP), and then we used morphological and life-history traits to characterize each species. We evaluated differences in bee body size by comparing intertegular span values. We tested the influence of habitat on taxonomic and functional parameters of orchid bees by applying a partial redundancy analysis (pRDA). We contrasted FD by calculating species richness, functional richness, and functional dispersion. We sampled 1176 bees from 30 species in 18 sampling days across 2015 and 2016. Males from PALM were 13.6% bigger than those in LR areas, and bees from APP showed a similar pattern compared to LR and PALM. Less than 15% of the variation in species composition was related to the distance among sampling sites, and 8% was due to habitat structure. In our pRDA, the spatial difference explained 6% of the variation in orchid bee traits, but there were no effects of habitat parameters upon FD. FD was reduced with land use change caused by oil palm plantations. Our findings support the belief that many bees are impacted by cultivated lands. Nevertheless, the functional similarity between LRs and APPs reflects common structural elements between them, although we did not find significant relationship between functional composition and habitat structure that we evaluated

Forest reserves and riparian corridors help maintain orchid bee (Hymenoptera: Euglossini) communities in oil palm plantations in Brazil

© 2017, INRA, DIB and Springer-Verlag France. Orchid bees (Apidae, Euglossini) are important pollinators in the Amazon forest. In eastern Brazilian Amazon, secondary forest and pastures are being replaced by oil palm plantations. Here, we tested the role of forest reserves and riparian corridors in maintaining orchid bees. We sampled bees in three different soil-type uses, comparing richness, abundance, and assemblage composition. Estimated richness was lowest in palm plantations than in forest reserves and riparian corridors on diversity of orchid bees. Riparian corridors had the highest abundance, followed by reserves, and oil palm plantations. Bee assemblage also varied with land cover, with the reserves having the most distinct composition. We also identified indicator bees for primary forest. Our results demonstrate riparian corridors and forest reserves can maintain orchid bees in oil palm landscapes