Observation of Trigona recursa Smith (Hymenoptera: Apidae) Feeding on Crotalaria micans Link (Fabaceae: Faboideae) in a Brazilian Savanna Fragment

Sociobiology

Thiago Mateus Rocha dos Santos²  Patricia S. Shibuya²  Julie Teresa Shapiro²  Camila Aoki¹ 

[1]Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul – Campus Aquidauna (CPAq) Unidade II

[2]Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul

关键词: Entomotoxicity;    Feeding behavior;    Monocrotaline;    Stingless bee;   

DOI  :  

来源: Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana, Brazil

【 摘 要 】

In this paper we present observations of individuals of the bee speciesTrigona recursafeeding on the fruits ofCrotalaria micans . This plant, which contains pyrrolizidine alkaloids, is known to be toxic to humans, mammals and poultry. Over the course of three days, we observed a large number of bees feeding on many individualCrotalaria micansplants in an urban fragment of Brazilian Savanna. The bees preferred greener fruits, which are the softest and most toxic. Consumption of the plant had no immediately apparent fatal effect on the bees, since we did not find any dead individuals near the observation site. Some insect species are known to use pyrrolizidine and alkaloids for defense by incorporating them into their body or using them as precursors to pheromones.Trigona recursaand other bee species have not been previously recorded consumingCrotalaria mican s and it is unclear what their motivation may be. We present these observations as a novel finding of the feeding behavior ofTrigona recursa . 

【 授权许可】

Unknown