Name: Camila Silva Carpim
Type: MSc dissertation
Publication date: 29/11/2019
Advisor:
Name |
Role |
|---|---|
| Marcelo Teixeira Tavares | Advisor * |
| Tânia Mara Guerra | Co-advisor * |
Examining board:
| Name |
Role |
|---|---|
| Agnaldo Silva Martins | Internal Examiner * |
| Antonio Jose Camillo de Aguiar | External Examiner * |
| Ary Gomes da Silva | External Alternate * |
| Marcelo Teixeira Tavares | Advisor * |
| Pâmella Machado Saguiah | Internal Alternate * |
| Tânia Mara Guerra | Co advisor * |
Summary: Abstract
1. Byrsonima sericea DC (Malpighiaceae) is an important source of oil for restinga bees. Oil-collecting bees are specialized in harvesting oil, which is essential for their survival and persistence.
2. We assumed that the coexistence of oil-collecting bee species in restinga is based in both time and spatial separation at bee harvesting. Therefore, the objective of this study was to test the hypothesis of floral resource partitioning by oil-collecting bees in B. sericea.
3. This study was conducted in a restinga area of southeastern Brazil during the flowering period of B. sericea. Weekly observations and recordings of visitation frequency and interactions between bees on flowers of two specimens of B. sericea
were made.
4. Three Centridini and two Epicharitini species were identified as the most frequent visitors to B. sericea: Centris sp1, Centris (Centris) spilopoda Moure, 1969, Centris
(Hemisiella) tarsata Smith, 1874, Epicharis (Epicharis) nigrita Friese, 1900 and Epicharis (Epicharoides) picta Smith, 1874.
5. B. sericea floral resource partitioning for oil-collecting bees was verified in spatial scale (between plants and between strata) and temporal scale (between flowering weeks and between hours of the day). Oil-collecting bees showed most significant differences in resource partitioning use over the weeks of flowering (temporal) and between strata (spatial) of B. sericea.
Key words. Oil-collecting bees, Centridini, Epicharitini, Byrsonima sericea, resource
partitioning.
