Nectar profitability, not empty honey stores, stimulate recruitment and foraging in Melipona scutellaris (Apidae, Meliponini).
In stingless bees (Meliponini) like in many other eusocial insect colonies food hoarding plays an important role in colony survival. However, very little is known on how Meliponini, a taxon restricted to tropical and subtropical regions, respond to different store conditions. We studied the impact of honey removal on nectar foraging activity and recruitment behaviour in Melipona scutellaris and compared our results with studies of the honey bee Apis mellifera. As expected, foraging activity increased significantly during abundance of artificial nectar and when increasing its profitability. Foraging activity on colony level could thereby frequently increase by an order of magnitude. Intriguingly, however, poor honey store conditions did not induce increased nectar foraging or recruitment activity. We discuss possible reasons explaining why increasing recruitment and foraging activity are not used by meliponines to compensate for poor food conditions in the nest. Among these are meliponine specific adaptations to climatic and environmental conditions, as well as physiology and brood rearing, such as mass provisioning of the brood.
Unit of Chemical Ecology, Department of Plant Protection Biology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Alnarp, Sweden. Dirk.Louis.Research@outlook.com.
Dirk Louis P
DL
Schorkopf
Departamento de Ciências Animais, Universidade Federal Rural do Semi-Árido, Avenida Francisco Mota 572, Mossoró, RN, 59625-900, Brazil.
Geovan Figueirêdo
GF
de Sá Filho
Departamento de Ciências Animais, Universidade Federal Rural do Semi-Árido, Avenida Francisco Mota 572, Mossoró, RN, 59625-900, Brazil.
Camila
C
Maia-Silva
Department of Neuropsychiatry and Psychosomatic Medicine, Oslo Universitetssykehus HF Rikshospitalet, Pb 4950 Nydalen, 0424, Oslo, Norway.
Martina
M
Schorkopf
Departamento de Ciências Animais, Universidade Federal Rural do Semi-Árido, Avenida Francisco Mota 572, Mossoró, RN, 59625-900, Brazil.
Michael
M
Hrncir
Department for Neurobiology, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090, Vienna, Austria.
Friedrich G
FG
Barth
D000818:Animals; D001516:Bees / Q000502:physiology*; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D005508:Food Deprivation / Q000502:physiology*; D006722:Honey; D057048:Plant Nectar / Q000008:administration & dosage*
D057048:Plant Nectar
Food deprivation; Food hoarding; Nectar foraging; Observation hive; Tropics