Lorenzon M C A, Matrangolo C A R
Instituto de Zootecnia/DRAA, UFRRJ, BR 465, km 7, CEP 23890-000, Seropédica, RJ, Brazil.
Braz J Biol. 2005 May;65(2):291-8. doi: 10.1590/s1519-69842005000200013.
In a caatinga region the flowers and nonfloral resources visited by highly eusocial bees, stingless beess and Apis mellifera (Africanized honey bee) were studied. During one year, monthly sampling took place in two sites at Serra da Capivara National Park (Piauf State, Brazil), one of them, including the local village, outside the park, and the other inside, using already existing park trails. With the help of entomological nets, all bees were caught while visiting floral and nonfloral resources. At the study sites we observed more stingless bees in nonfloral resources, made possible by human presence. Twelve stingless bee species used the nonfloral resources in different proportions, showing no preference for time of day, season of the year, or sites. During the rainy season, more water sources and abundant flowering plants were observed, which attract stingless bees, even though many worker bees were found foraging in the aqueous substrates while few were observed at water sources. This relationship was higher for stingless bee species than for Africanized honey bees. Paratrigona lineata was represented by few specimens in floral and nonfloral resources and is perhaps rare in this region. Frieseomelitta silvestrii could be considered rare in the floral resources, but they were abundant in nonfloral resources. The variety and intriguing abundance of bees in nonfloral resources suggests that these are an important part of the stingless bee niches, even if these resources are used for nest construction and defense.
在一个卡廷加地区，对高度社会化蜜蜂、无刺蜂和非洲化蜜蜂（Apis mellifera）所访问的花朵及非花资源进行了研究。在一年时间里，每月在塞拉达卡皮瓦拉国家公园（巴西皮奥伊州）的两个地点进行采样，其中一个地点包括公园外的当地村庄，另一个在公园内，利用现有的公园步道。借助昆虫网，在蜜蜂访问花和非花资源时将其全部捕获。在研究地点，我们观察到在有人类存在的情况下，无刺蜂在非花资源中更为常见。12种无刺蜂以不同比例利用非花资源，对一天中的时间、一年中的季节或地点均无偏好。在雨季，观察到更多的水源和大量开花植物，这吸引了无刺蜂，尽管发现许多工蜂在含水基质中觅食，而在水源处观察到的较少。这种关系在无刺蜂物种中比在非洲化蜜蜂中更为明显。细纹副无刺蜂在花和非花资源中的标本数量很少，在该地区可能较为罕见。西尔韦斯特里弗里斯无刺蜂在花资源中可被视为罕见，但在非花资源中数量丰富。非花资源中蜜蜂种类的多样性和有趣的丰富度表明，即使这些资源用于筑巢和防御，它们也是无刺蜂生态位的重要组成部分。
