Biodiversity Data Journal :
Taxonomic paper
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Male sleeping aggregation of multiple Eucerini bee genera (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in Chapada Diamantina, Bahia, Brazil
Corresponding author:
Academic editor: Gilberto M. M. Santos
Received: 18 Aug 2014 | Accepted: 08 Sep 2014 | Published: 12 Sep 2014
© 2014 Thiago Mahlmann, Juliana Hipólito, Favízia de Oliveira
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation:
Mahlmann T, Hipólito J, de Oliveira F (2014) Male sleeping aggregation of multiple Eucerini bee genera (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in Chapada Diamantina, Bahia, Brazil. Biodiversity Data Journal 2: e1556. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.2.e1556
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Males of some groups of bees have to find a place outside the nests to sleep, sometimes forming “male sleeping aggregations”. Here we report the first record of “dense” male sleeping aggregation of two different genera of Eucerini bees observed in Bahia, Brazil. We discuss the possible aim of this kind of aggregation as well the plant utilized on aggregate.
Long-horned bees, Melissodes, Melissoptila
While females of most solitary bee species spend the night inside their nests in construction, males have to find a place outside the nests to sleep, sometimes forming “male sleeping aggregations” (
These aggregations may contain hundreds or even thousands of male individuals sharing the same sleeping site, where sometimes, but not as a rule, females also can be found together (
Dense aggregations usually are formed by a single species; however, few records with multiple species and genera can be found (e.g.
In this paper we report the first occurrence record of a “dense” male sleeping aggregation including two different genera of Eucerini bees, Melissodes Latreille, 1829 and Melissoptila Holmberg, 1884.
The aggregation was observed in Ventura region, in Morro do Chapéu city, Chapada Diamantina, Bahia, Brasil (11°40′10.4″S; 40°58′12″W) in a fragment of deciduous or semi-deciduous forest (
All specimens observed were collected and deposited at Invertebrate Collection at Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia (INPA). The specimens were labeled with the following information: “BRA, Bahia, Morro do Chapéu, Ventura, 29.i.2011; 15h30; 11°40′10.4″S; 40°58′12″W, T.Mahlmann & J.Hipólito Leg.”; “03 males sleeping on dried flower”: Lamiaceae, aff. Hyptis sp.”
Three male specimens belonging to distinct species and genera of Eucerini were observed and collected. The aggregation was formed by two males of Melissodes (Ecplectica) nigroaenea (Smith, 1854) (Fig.
Formation was not observed until it was totally dark, making impossible to know the entire aggregation processes. It is possible, however, that more bees had joined the formation after our observations.
Instead what has been reported by stingless bees in males “congregations” without much definite information (
Males reported here have long antennae and brownish hairs with an integument predominantly dark brown, which compared to the hairy aspect and pale color of the inflorescence where the aggregation was formed could indicate an nice strategy of camouflage (Fig.
Despite there are several records on different types of sleeping aggregations on literature, new records as the one reported here may help to better understand of reasons of this behavior.
We are grateful to Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPQ) and Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES).