Abstract

QUIROZ-GARCIA, David Leonor; ARREGUIN-SANCHEZ, María de la Luz; FERNANDEZ-NAVA, Rafael  and  MARTINEZ-HERNANDEZ, Enrique. Seasonal patterns of floral resource utilization for Scaptotrigona hellwegeri at the Chamela Biological Station, Jalisco, Mexico. Polibotánica [online]. 2011, n.31, pp.89-119. ISSN 1405-2768.

The floral resources consumed by the social bee Scaptotrigona hellwegeri were studied in two different plant communities at the Chamela Biological Station, Jalisco, Mexico. Pollen analysis of nest cell contents was conducted on 69 samples collected from three colonies of S. hellwegeri over a twelve-month period. A total of 165 types of pollen were recorded and quantified. Of the taxa observed, only 16 were really important resources, having representation of 10% or more: Apoplanesia paniculata, Astronium graveolens, Bursera sp., Cassia hintonii, Combretum sp., Croton sp., Euphorbia mcvaughii, Forchhammeria pallida, Heliocarpus pallidus, Indigofera langlassei, Pisonia aculeata, Psidium sartorianum, Recchia mexicana, Thouinia paucidentata, Thouinidium decandrum and Vitex mollis. In samples from colony C1, thirteen plant species proved to be important; in colony C2, ten were important, and in colony C3, eleven. An interesting point is that among all the plant species visited, trees were the best represented in the samples. Scaptotrigona hellwegeri was polylectic, that is, it collected pollen from many unrelated plant species. Nevertheless, at different times throughout the year its foraging strategy occasionally could be considered narrowly polylectic or included oligolectic, as gathering could be limited to a few related plant species.

Keywords : Melissopalynology; Scaptotrigona hellwegeri; pollen; floral resources.

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