Effect of Citrus floral extracts on the foraging behavior of the stingless bee Scaptotrigona pectoralis (Dalla Torre)
Effect of Citrus floral extracts on the foraging behavior of the stingless bee Scaptotrigona pectoralis (Dalla Torre). Stingless bees have an important role as pollinators of many wild and cultivated plant species in tropical regions. Little is known, however, about the interaction between floral fr...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Sociedade Brasileira de Entomologia
2012-03-01
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| Series: | Revista Brasileira de Entomologia |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0085-56262012000100012&lng=en&tlng=en |
| _version_ | 1818311502030962688 |
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| author | Julieta Grajales-Conesa Virginia Meléndez Ramírez Leopoldo Cruz-López Daniel Sánchez Guillén |
| author_facet | Julieta Grajales-Conesa Virginia Meléndez Ramírez Leopoldo Cruz-López Daniel Sánchez Guillén |
| author_sort | Julieta Grajales-Conesa |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Effect of Citrus floral extracts on the foraging behavior of the stingless bee Scaptotrigona pectoralis (Dalla Torre). Stingless bees have an important role as pollinators of many wild and cultivated plant species in tropical regions. Little is known, however, about the interaction between floral fragrances and the foraging behavior of meliponine species. Thus we investigated the chemical composition of the extracts of citric (lemon and orange) flowers and their effects on the foraging behavior of the stingless bee Scaptotrigona pectoralis. We found that each type of flower has its own specific blend of major compounds: limonene (62.9%) for lemon flowers, and farnesol (26.5%), (E)-nerolidol (20.8%), and linalool (12.7%) for orange flowers. In the foraging experiments the S. pectoralis workers were able to use the flower extracts to orient to the food source, overlooking plates baited with hexane only. However, orange flower extracts were seemingly more attractive to these worker bees, maybe because of the particular blend present in it. Our results reveal that these fragrances are very attractive to S. pectoralis, so we can infer that within citric orchards they could be important visitors in the study area; however habitat destruction, overuse of pesticides and the competitive override by managed honeybees might have put at risk their populations and thus the ecological services they provide to us. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-13T08:02:58Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-2beb889400e9431e9f1c7616ed2ceb14 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1806-9665 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-13T08:02:58Z |
| publishDate | 2012-03-01 |
| publisher | Sociedade Brasileira de Entomologia |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Revista Brasileira de Entomologia |
| spelling | doaj.art-2beb889400e9431e9f1c7616ed2ceb142022-12-21T23:54:22ZengSociedade Brasileira de EntomologiaRevista Brasileira de Entomologia1806-96652012-03-01561768010.1590/S0085-56262012000100012S0085-56262012000100012Effect of Citrus floral extracts on the foraging behavior of the stingless bee Scaptotrigona pectoralis (Dalla Torre)Julieta Grajales-Conesa0Virginia Meléndez Ramírez1Leopoldo Cruz-López2Daniel Sánchez Guillén3Universidad Autónoma de YucatánUniversidad Autónoma de YucatánEl Colegio de la Frontera SurEl Colegio de la Frontera SurEffect of Citrus floral extracts on the foraging behavior of the stingless bee Scaptotrigona pectoralis (Dalla Torre). Stingless bees have an important role as pollinators of many wild and cultivated plant species in tropical regions. Little is known, however, about the interaction between floral fragrances and the foraging behavior of meliponine species. Thus we investigated the chemical composition of the extracts of citric (lemon and orange) flowers and their effects on the foraging behavior of the stingless bee Scaptotrigona pectoralis. We found that each type of flower has its own specific blend of major compounds: limonene (62.9%) for lemon flowers, and farnesol (26.5%), (E)-nerolidol (20.8%), and linalool (12.7%) for orange flowers. In the foraging experiments the S. pectoralis workers were able to use the flower extracts to orient to the food source, overlooking plates baited with hexane only. However, orange flower extracts were seemingly more attractive to these worker bees, maybe because of the particular blend present in it. Our results reveal that these fragrances are very attractive to S. pectoralis, so we can infer that within citric orchards they could be important visitors in the study area; however habitat destruction, overuse of pesticides and the competitive override by managed honeybees might have put at risk their populations and thus the ecological services they provide to us.http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0085-56262012000100012&lng=en&tlng=enAbelha sem ferrãoCitrusforrageamentovoláteis de floresScaptotrigona pectoralis |
| spellingShingle | Julieta Grajales-Conesa Virginia Meléndez Ramírez Leopoldo Cruz-López Daniel Sánchez Guillén Effect of Citrus floral extracts on the foraging behavior of the stingless bee Scaptotrigona pectoralis (Dalla Torre) Revista Brasileira de Entomologia Abelha sem ferrão Citrus forrageamento voláteis de flores Scaptotrigona pectoralis |
| title | Effect of Citrus floral extracts on the foraging behavior of the stingless bee Scaptotrigona pectoralis (Dalla Torre) |
| title_full | Effect of Citrus floral extracts on the foraging behavior of the stingless bee Scaptotrigona pectoralis (Dalla Torre) |
| title_fullStr | Effect of Citrus floral extracts on the foraging behavior of the stingless bee Scaptotrigona pectoralis (Dalla Torre) |
| title_full_unstemmed | Effect of Citrus floral extracts on the foraging behavior of the stingless bee Scaptotrigona pectoralis (Dalla Torre) |
| title_short | Effect of Citrus floral extracts on the foraging behavior of the stingless bee Scaptotrigona pectoralis (Dalla Torre) |
| title_sort | effect of citrus floral extracts on the foraging behavior of the stingless bee scaptotrigona pectoralis dalla torre |
| topic | Abelha sem ferrão Citrus forrageamento voláteis de flores Scaptotrigona pectoralis |
| url | http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0085-56262012000100012&lng=en&tlng=en |
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