The importance of plant diversity in maintaining the pollinator bee, Eulaema nigrita (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in sweet passion fruit fields
The euglossine bee Eulaema nigrita plays an important role for the pollination of native and economically important plants, such as the sweet passion-fruit Passiflora alata. E. nigrita uniquely collects the nectar from the flowers of P. alata, nevertheless, it needs to visit other plants to collect...
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| Language: | English |
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Universidad de Costa Rica
2012-12-01
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| Series: | Revista de Biología Tropical |
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| Online Access: | http://www.scielo.sa.cr/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0034-77442012000400013&lng=en&tlng=en |
| _version_ | 1827166788295589888 |
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| author | Cláudia Inês da Silva Natali Gomes Bordon Léo Correia da Rocha Filho Carlos Alberto Garófalo |
| author_facet | Cláudia Inês da Silva Natali Gomes Bordon Léo Correia da Rocha Filho Carlos Alberto Garófalo |
| author_sort | Cláudia Inês da Silva |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The euglossine bee Eulaema nigrita plays an important role for the pollination of native and economically important plants, such as the sweet passion-fruit Passiflora alata. E. nigrita uniquely collects the nectar from the flowers of P. alata, nevertheless, it needs to visit other plants to collect pollen, nectar and other resources for its survival. There are two methods to identify the species of plants used by bees in their diet: by direct observation of the bees in the flowers, and through identification of pollen grains present in brood cells, feces, or in the bees’ body. In order to identify the other plants that E. nigrita visits, we analyzed samples of pollen grains removed from the bee’s body in the course of the flowering period of P. alata. Among our results, the flora visited by E. nigrita comprised 40 species from 32 genera and 19 families, some of them used as a pollen source or just nectar. In spite of being a polyletic species, E. nigrita exhibited preference for some plant species with poricidal anthers. P. alata which has high sugar concentration nectar was the main source of nectar for this bee in the studied area. Nonetheless, the pollinic analysis indicated that others nectariferous plant species are necessary to keep the populations of E. nigrita. Studies such as this one are important since they indicate supplementary pollen-nectar sources which must be used for the conservation of the populations of E. nigrita in crops neighbouring areas. In the absence of pollinators, growers are forced to pay for hand pollination, which increases production costs; keeping pollinators in cultivated areas is still more feasible to ensure sweet passion fruit production |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T18:15:09Z |
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| id | doaj.art-557a49efae9f4a7fa765c433cc2522b2 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0034-7744 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-03-21T01:53:57Z |
| publishDate | 2012-12-01 |
| publisher | Universidad de Costa Rica |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Revista de Biología Tropical |
| spelling | doaj.art-557a49efae9f4a7fa765c433cc2522b22024-08-02T21:57:16ZengUniversidad de Costa RicaRevista de Biología Tropical0034-77442012-12-0160415531565S0034-77442012000400013The importance of plant diversity in maintaining the pollinator bee, Eulaema nigrita (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in sweet passion fruit fieldsCláudia Inês da SilvaNatali Gomes BordonLéo Correia da Rocha FilhoCarlos Alberto GarófaloThe euglossine bee Eulaema nigrita plays an important role for the pollination of native and economically important plants, such as the sweet passion-fruit Passiflora alata. E. nigrita uniquely collects the nectar from the flowers of P. alata, nevertheless, it needs to visit other plants to collect pollen, nectar and other resources for its survival. There are two methods to identify the species of plants used by bees in their diet: by direct observation of the bees in the flowers, and through identification of pollen grains present in brood cells, feces, or in the bees’ body. In order to identify the other plants that E. nigrita visits, we analyzed samples of pollen grains removed from the bee’s body in the course of the flowering period of P. alata. Among our results, the flora visited by E. nigrita comprised 40 species from 32 genera and 19 families, some of them used as a pollen source or just nectar. In spite of being a polyletic species, E. nigrita exhibited preference for some plant species with poricidal anthers. P. alata which has high sugar concentration nectar was the main source of nectar for this bee in the studied area. Nonetheless, the pollinic analysis indicated that others nectariferous plant species are necessary to keep the populations of E. nigrita. Studies such as this one are important since they indicate supplementary pollen-nectar sources which must be used for the conservation of the populations of E. nigrita in crops neighbouring areas. In the absence of pollinators, growers are forced to pay for hand pollination, which increases production costs; keeping pollinators in cultivated areas is still more feasible to ensure sweet passion fruit productionhttp://www.scielo.sa.cr/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0034-77442012000400013&lng=en&tlng=enabejaanálisis polínicoconservaciónmantenimiento de los polinizadores |
| spellingShingle | Cláudia Inês da Silva Natali Gomes Bordon Léo Correia da Rocha Filho Carlos Alberto Garófalo The importance of plant diversity in maintaining the pollinator bee, Eulaema nigrita (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in sweet passion fruit fields Revista de Biología Tropical abeja análisis polínico conservación mantenimiento de los polinizadores |
| title | The importance of plant diversity in maintaining the pollinator bee, Eulaema nigrita (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in sweet passion fruit fields |
| title_full | The importance of plant diversity in maintaining the pollinator bee, Eulaema nigrita (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in sweet passion fruit fields |
| title_fullStr | The importance of plant diversity in maintaining the pollinator bee, Eulaema nigrita (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in sweet passion fruit fields |
| title_full_unstemmed | The importance of plant diversity in maintaining the pollinator bee, Eulaema nigrita (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in sweet passion fruit fields |
| title_short | The importance of plant diversity in maintaining the pollinator bee, Eulaema nigrita (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in sweet passion fruit fields |
| title_sort | importance of plant diversity in maintaining the pollinator bee eulaema nigrita hymenoptera apidae in sweet passion fruit fields |
| topic | abeja análisis polínico conservación mantenimiento de los polinizadores |
| url | http://www.scielo.sa.cr/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0034-77442012000400013&lng=en&tlng=en |
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