title: [Melissopalynology and trophic niche of Apis cerana ceraca and Apis mellifera ligustica in Yunnan Province of Southwest China].
abstract: In 2010 and 2011, the honey samples of Apis cerana cerana and A. mellifera ligustica were collected from Kunming and Mengzi of Yunnan Province, respectively, aimed to analyze the melissopalynology and tropic niche of the two bee species. The absolute pollen concentration of the honey of A. cerana cerana was 1.55 x 10(4) ind x g(-1), being significantly higher than that (1.01 x 10(4) ind x g(-1)) of A. mellifera ligustica, and the number of nectar plant species collected by A. cerana cerana was 12.9, also significantly higher than that (7.7) collected by A. mellifera ligustica, indicating that A. cerana cerana could utilize more nectar plants, while A. mellifera ligustica had stronger selectivity to the nectar plants. The trophic niche breadth of A. cerana cerana was 0.35, which was significantly higher than that (0.23) of A. mellifera ligustica. The trophic niche overlap index between the two bee species was 0.71, and the interspecific competition index was 0.93, suggesting that the food competition between A. cerana cerana and A. mellifera ligustica was fierce.
authors.affiliation: Research Center of Food Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650500, China. Thomas.cate@foxmail.com
authors.forename: Yu-Jia
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Tian-Rui
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Feng-Yun
authors.initials: FY
authors.lastname: Zhao
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001516:Bees / Q000145:classification* / Q000502:physiology*; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D002681:China; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D057048:Plant Nectar; D011058:Pollen; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D057048:Plant Nectar