Thermal evidence of the invasion of a stingless bee nest by a mammal.
Melipona bicolor, an inhabitant of the Atlantic Rainforest, nidifies in hollows of live or dead trees. In order to study thermoregulation of a nest of this species, a temperature data logger was installed inside a hollow tree. After this, an intruder dug a hole, invaded the nest, and probably consumed its honey, pollen and bees, having remained there during three days. Thermal evidence and its behavior allowed the delimitation of a small number of suspects, which we analyzed here. The intruder was a small mammal, predominantly nocturnal, that takes shelter in burrows, probably the yellow armadillo (Euphractus sexcinctus). Other evidence, if collected immediately after invasion, could precisely indicate precisely the species.
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Departamento de Zoologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, Rua do Matão, tr. 14, n. 101, Cidade Universitária, CEP 05508-900, São Paulo, Brazil. sedilar@usp.br
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D000818:Animals; D001516:Bees; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D001831:Body Temperature; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D006358:Hot Temperature; D006799:Housing, Animal; D008322:Mammals / Q000502:physiology*