Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Pollen Types Used by the Native Stingless Bee, Tetragonisca angustula (Latreille), in an Amazon-Chiquitano Transitional Forest of Bolivia

  • Ecology, Behavior and Bionomics
  • Published:
Neotropical Entomology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Samples of corbicular and stored pollen gathered by Tetragonisca angustula (Latreille, 1811) in an Amazon-Chiquitano transitional forest during the dry season were analyzed. The pollen spectrum was established as well as the dynamics of the relationship between the stingless bee and the surrounding flora. Pollen samples obtained from three rational hives were subjected to acetolysis and 55 pollen types were identified, the most frequent being from Anadenanthera (Fabaceae), Chenopodiaceae, and Dydimopanax (Araliaceae). Significant differences in pollen families used between hives along the months of collection were found in stored pollen and non-significant differences in corbicular pollen. Mean values of alpha diversity (H′) showed T. angustula as a generalist while beta diversity qualitatively showed that pollen composition was similar between two hives both of which differed from the third hive. Pollen types in corbicular and stored pollen were in general related with richness of flowering plants in the foraging area; the pollen offer was less diverse than the pollen collected, and a trend to prefer the collection of pollen from the most abundant flowering species could be discerned. T. angustula showed polylectic feeding habits and a capacity to adapt to food availability.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig 1
Fig 2
Fig 3
Fig 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Absy ML, Rech AR, Ferreira MG (2018) Pollen collected by stingless bees: a contribution to understanding Amazonian diversity. In: Vit P, Pedro SRM, Roubik DW (eds) Pot-pollen in stingless bee melittology. Springer international publishing AG, pp 29–46

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Aizen M, Chacoff N (2009) Las interacciones planta-animal como servicio ecosistemico: el caso del mutualismo de la polinización. In: Medel R, Aizen M, Zamora R (eds) Ecología y evolución de interacciones planta-animal. Editorial Universitaria, Santiago de Chile, pp 316–329

    Google Scholar 

  • Almeida JL, Oliveira E, Soares J, Menezes M, Monica O, Lorezon MC (2012) Floral sources to Tetragonisca angustula (Hymenoptera: Apidae) and their pollen morphology in a Southeastern Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Rev Biol Trop 60:1491–1501

    Google Scholar 

  • Bascompte J, Jordano P (2008) Redes mutualistas de especies. Investigación y Ciencia 1:50–59

    Google Scholar 

  • Benitez-Vieyra S, Fornoni J, Pérez-Alquicira J, Boege K, Domínguez CA (2014) The evolution of final—reward correlations in bee- and hummingbird pollinated species of Salvia. Proc Royal Soc B 281:1–6

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carvalho C, Marchini LC (1999) Tipos polinicos colectados por Nannotrigona testaceicornis e Tetragonisca angustula (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Meliponinae). Sci Agric 56:1–6

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Celeromics (2009) Cell counting error for manual cell counting. http://www.celeromics.com/ Accessed 5 Oct 2016

  • Colinvaux P, De Oliveira P, Moreno E (1990) Amazon Pollen Manual and Atlas/ Manual e Atlas Palinológico da Amazonia. Harwood Academic Publishers, Amsterdam 413 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Copa AM (2004) Patrones de nidificación de Trigona (Tetragonisca) angustula y Melipona rufiventris (Hymenoptera: Meliponini) en el norte de La Paz, Bolivia. Ecol Apl 3:82–86

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De la Riva PA (2004) Evaluación de la densidad de colmenas de abejas sin aguijón (Meliponinae) con relación a la oferta y uso de especies de plantas con flor en diferentes épocas en Santa Fe – Ixiamas (La Paz, Bolivia). Tesis de licenciatura, Carrera de Biología, UMSA. La Paz, Bolivia. 60 pp

  • de Novais JS, Absy ML, Riveiro F (2014) Pollen types collected by Tetragonisca angustula (hymenoptera: Apidae) in dry vegetation in Northeastern Brazil. Eur J Entomol 111:25–34

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Novais JS, Garcez AC, Absy ML, dos Santos FAR (2015) Comparative pollen spectra of Tetragonisca angustula (Apidae, Meliponini) from the Lower Amazon (N Brazil) and caatinga (NE Brasil). Apidologie 46:417–431

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Devisscher T, Malhi Y, Landívar VDR, Oliveras I (2016) Understanding ecological transition under recurrent wildfire: a case study in the seasonally dry tropical forest of the Chiquitania, Bolivia. Forest Ecol Manag 360:273–286

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Erdtman G (1986) Pollen morphology and plant taxonomy (an introduction to pollen analysis). EJ Brill, Leiden 426 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Ferrufino U, Vit P (2013) Pot-honey of six Meliponines from Amboró National Park, Bolivia. In: Vit P, Silva P, Roubik D (eds) Pot honey a legacy of stingless bees. Springer, New York – EEUU, pp 409–416

    Google Scholar 

  • Freitas BM, Imperatriz- Fonseca VL, Medina LM, Kleinert AMP, Galetto L, Nates-Parra G, Quezada-Euán JJG (2009) Diversity, threats and conservation of native bees in the Neotropics. Apidologie 40:332–346

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gamero R (2006) Evaluación de la adaptación de la abeja Tetragonica angustula Latreille (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Meliponinae) en cámaras artificiales. Tesis de licenciatura, Carrera de Agronomía, Universidad Earth. Guácimo, Costa Rica, 55 pp

  • Gentry A (1996) A field guide to the families and genera of woody plants of northwest South America (Colombia, Ecuador, Peru), with supplementary notes on herbaceous taxa. University of Chicago, Chicago 920 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Hammer Q, Harper D, Ryan P (2001) PAST: paleontological statistics software package for education and data analysis. Paleontol Electron 4:4

    Google Scholar 

  • Ibich PL, Merida G (2003) Biodiversidad: la riqueza de Bolivia. Estado de conocimiento y conservación. FAN. Santa Cruz, Bolivia 737 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Klein AM, Vaissiere BE, Cane JH, Steffan-Dewenter I, Cunningham SA, Kreme C, Tscharntke T (2007) Importance of pollinator in changing landscapes for world crops. Proc Royal Soc B 274:303–313

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Louveaux J, Maurizio A, Vorwohl G (1978) Methods of melissopalynology. Bee World 59:139–157

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marquez-Souza AC, Absy ML, Kerr WE (2007) Pollen harvest features of the Central Amazonian bee Scaptotrigona fuvicutis Moure 1964 (Apidae: Meliponinae), in Brasil. Acta Bot Bras 21:11–20

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marquez-Souza AC (2010) Ocorrencia do pólen de Podocarpus sp. (Podocarpaceae) nas coletas de Frieseomelitta varia Lepeletier 1836 (Apidae: Meliponinae) em uma área de Manaus, AM, Brasil. Acta Bot Bras 24:558–566

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martínez E, Cuadriello J, Ramírez E, Medina M, Sosa M, Melchor J (1994) Foraging of Nannotrigona testaceicornis, Trigona (T. angustula), Scaptotrigona Mexicana and Plebeia sp. in the Tacaná region, Chiapas, Mexico. Grana 33:205–217

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Michener CD (2007) The bees of the world. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore 913 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Navarro GI, Vargas G, Jardim A, Toledo M, Barra N, Nee M (1996) Clasificación y diagnóstico de la vegetación para la conservación de la región del Parque Nacional Amboró (Santa Cruz, Bolivia). Informe inedito a FAN/TNC y la DNCB

  • Navarro GI (2001) Descripción de la vegetación de Potrerillos. Unpublished report, 2 pp

  • Navarro GI, Maldonado M (2002) Geografía ecológica de Bolivia: vegetación y ambientes acuáticos. Fundación Simón I. Patiño, Cochabamba, Bolivia 719 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Navarro GI (2011) Clasificación de la vegetación de Bolivia. Fundación Simón I. Patiño, Santa Cruz 711 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Nicolson SW (2007) Nectar consumer. In: Nicolson SW, Nepi M, Pacini E (eds) Nectaries and nectar. Springer, Dordrecht, pp 289–342

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Nogueira-Neto P (1997) Vida e criaҫão de abelhas indígenas sem ferrão. Urna Edição Nogueirapis, São Paulo 445 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Obregon D, Rodríguez CA, Chamorro FJ, Nates Parra G (2013) Botanical origin of pot- honey from Tetragonisca angustula Latreille in Colombia. In: Vit P, Pedro SR, Roubik D (eds) Pot—honey: a legacy of stingless bees. Springer, New York, pp 337–346

    Google Scholar 

  • Ollerton J (2017) Pollinator diversity: distribution, ecological function, and conservation. Annu Rev Ecol Evol Syst 48:353–376

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ollerton J, Winfree R, Tarrant S (2011) How many flowering plants are pollinated by animals? Oikos 120:321–326

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Quiroz DL, Arreguín ML, Fernández R (2011) Patrones estacionales de utilización de recursos florales por Scaptotrigona hellwegeri en la estación de biología Chamela, Jalisco, México. Palibotánica 31:89–119

    Google Scholar 

  • Ramalho M (2004) Stingless bees and mass flowering trees in the canopy of Atlantic Forest: a tight relationship. Acta Bot Bras 18:37–47

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ramalho M, Kleinert A, Fonseca I (1990) Important bee plants for stingless bees (Melipona and Trigona) and Africanized honeybees (Apis mellifera) in Neotropical habitats: a review. Apidologie 21:469–488

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rech AR, Absy ML (2011a) Pollen storages in nests of bees of the genera Partamona, Scaura and Trigona (Hymenoptera, Apidae). Rev Bras Entomol 55:361–372

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rech AR, Absy ML (2011b) Pollen sources used by species of Meliponini (Hymenoptera: Apidae) along the Rio Negro channel in Amazonas, Brasil. Grana 50:150–161

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roubik DW, Moreno JE (1991) Pollen and spores of Barro Colorado Island. Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis 268 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Toledo M, Poorter L, Peña- Claros M, Alarcón A, Balcázar J, Leaño C, Licona JC, Llanque O, Vroomans V, Zuimeda P, Bongers F (2011) Climate is a stronger driver of tree and forest growth rates than soil and disturbance. J Ecol 99:254–264

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vossler F (2012) Estudio palinológico de las reservas alimentarias (miel y masas de polen) de “abejas nativas sin aguijón” (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Meliponini): un aporte al conocimiento de la interacción abejas planta en el Chaco Seco de Argentina. Tesis doctoral, Carrera de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Nacional de la Plata. La Plata, Argentina, 166 pp

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank UAGRM Botanical Laboratory for their support in the analysis of pollen samples, Herbario del Oriente Boliviano (USZ) for their collaboration with botanical identifications, Museo de Historia Natural Noel Kempff Mercado for logistical support in field trips, and Herbario Nacional de Bolivia for their collaboration in reconfirming the identification of pollen grains. Finally, we thank Tonny Bonaso and the private Natural Reserve “Potrerillos del Güenda” for authorizing and supporting this research.

Funding Information This work received financial support from LANBIO (Latin American Network for Research on Bioactive Natural Compounds) and BOL-01.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Depto de Ciencias Ecológicas, Facultad de Ciencias, Univ de Chile, Santiago, Chile

    A Saravia-Nava, H M Niemeyer & C F Pinto

  2. Museo de Historia Natural Noel Kempff Mercado, Univ Autónoma Gabriel René Moreno, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia

    A Saravia-Nava

  3. Univ Mayor Real y Pontificia San Francisco Xavier de Chuquisaca, Sucre, Bolivia

    C F Pinto

Authors
  1. A Saravia-Nava
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. H M Niemeyer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. C F Pinto
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to C F Pinto.

Additional information

Edited by Fernando B Noll – UNESP

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Saravia-Nava, A., Niemeyer, H.M. & Pinto, C.F. Pollen Types Used by the Native Stingless Bee, Tetragonisca angustula (Latreille), in an Amazon-Chiquitano Transitional Forest of Bolivia. Neotrop Entomol 47, 798–807 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13744-018-0612-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13744-018-0612-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation