FORAGING ACTIVITIES OF STINGLESS BEES, Geniotrigona thoracica AND Heterotrigona itama (APIDAE: MELIPONINI) IN RELATION TO WET AND DRY SEASONS IN SELANGOR, MALAYSIA

Wan Nur Asiah Wan Mohd Adnan, Syari Jamian, Nur Azura Adam, Mohamad Shukri Tan Shilan, Siti Asma Samsudin, Chong Leong Puan

Abstract


This study reports the influence of wet and dry seasons on foraging activities of Geniotrigona thoracica and Heterotrigona itama in tropical climate of Malaysia. Foraging activities of the two bee species were recorded monthly from September 2014 to August 2015. Two methods of monitoring and counting the activities of the two species of stingless bees, (1) bees hovering in and bees hovering out (FIFO), and (2) bees collecting the pollen and bees bringing the nectar to their nest were recorded using a hand manual counter about 1 m2 from the nest entrance of each species studied. This study showed the wet season recorded the highest foraging activities for both species, with G. thoracica and H. itama incurred the highest number of flights in (FI) in January 2015 (FI G. thoracica = 12,303 individuals: FI H. itama = 12,011 individuals). This study also showed the lowest foraging activities for both species in dry season with the lowest number of flights in (FI) recorded for G. thoracica observed in September 2014 (4880 individuals) while H. itama showed in May 2015 (2168 individuals). Thus, the foraging activities of these bees might be affected by other environmental aspects such as the composition of flora species surrounding the stingless bee meliponiculture.


Full Text:

PDF

References


Abou-Shaara, H.F., Al-Ghamdi, A.A. & Mohamed, A.A. 2012. Tolerance of two honey bee races to various temperature and relative humidity gradients. Environmental and Experimental Biology 10: 133–138.

Aleixo, K.P., Menezes, C. & Imperatriz Fonseca, V.L. 2017. Seasonal availability of floral resources and ambient temperature shape stingless bee foraging behavior (Scaptotrigona aff. depilis). Apidologie 48: 117–127.

Cockerell, T.D.A. 1918. Descriptions and records of bees - LXXX. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 2: 384–390.

Dantas, M. 2016. Thermogenesis in stingless bees: An approach with emphasis on brood's thermal contribution. Journal of Animal Behaviour and Biometeorology 4: 101-108.

Delgado-Carrillo, O., Marten-Rodrıguez, S., Ashworth, L., Aguilar, R., Lopezaraiza-Mikel, M. & Quesada, M. 2018. Temporal variation in pollination services to Cucurbita moschata is determined by bee gender and diversity. Ecosphere 9(11) :1-16.

Escobedo-Kenefic, N., Landaverde-González, P., & Theodorou, P. 2020. Disentangling the effects of local resources, landscape heterogeneity and climatic seasonality on bee diversity and plant-pollinator networks in tropical highlands. Oecologia 194: 333–344.

Fidalgo, A.O. & Kleinert, A.M.P. 2007. Foraging behavior of Melipona rufiventris Lepeletier (Apinae; Meliponini) in Ubatuba, SP, Brazil. Brazilian Journal of Biology 67(1): 133-140.

Jaapar, M.F., Nasarodin, N.S., Reward, N.F., Jajuli, R. & Idris, A.B. 2019. Notes on resin collected by stingless bees in Taman Tropika Tasik Kenyir, Terengganu, Malaysia. Serangga 24(2): 81-89.

Jaapar, M., Jajuli, R., Radzali, M. & Idris, A.B. 2018. Foraging behaviour of stingless bee Heterotrigona itama (Cockerell, 1918) (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Meliponini). AIP Conference Proceedings 1940: 020037.

Hartshorn, G.S. 2013. Tropical Forest Ecosystems. In Levin, A. S. (ed.). Encyclopedia of Biodiversity. 2nd Edition, pp. 269-279. USA: Academic Press

Härtel, S. & Dewenter, I.S. 2014. Ecology: Honey bee foraging in human-modified landscapes. Current Biology 24(11): 524-526.

Keppner, E. & Jarau, S. 2016. Influence of climatic factors on the flight activity of the stingless bee Partamona orizabaensis and its competition behaviour at food sources. Journal of Comparative Physiology A 202(9-10):691-699.

Macias-Macias J.O., Tapia-Gonzalez, J.M. & Contreras-Escareno, F. 2017. Foraging behaviour, environmental parameters and nests development of Melipona colimana Ayala (Hymenoptera: Meliponini) in temperate climate of Jalisco, México. Brazilian Journal of Biology 77: 383-387.

Maia-Silva C., Hrncir, M., Silva C.I., & Imperatriz-Fonseca, V.L. (2015). Survival strategies of stingless bees (Melipona subnitida) in an unpredictable environment, the Brazilian tropical dry. Apidologie 46:631–643.

Michener, C.D. 2007. The Bees of the World. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press.

Mohd Yusof, N.F., Nik Rashidi, N.R., Zulkifli, N.R., Yaakop, S., Hamid, I.R. & Md- Zain, B.R. 2018. Phylogentic relationships of Heterotrigona itama in Malaysia based on COI DNA sequences. Serangga 23(2): 36-48.

Nascimento, D.L. & Nascimento, F.S. 2012. Extreme effects of season on the foraging activities and colony productivity of a stingless bee (Melipona asilvai Moure, 1971) in Northeast Brazil. Psyche 267361: 1-6.

Phatlane, W.M. 2018. Pollination in Plants. London, United Kingdom: Intech Open.

Polatto, L., Chaud-Netto, J. & Vieira, V. 2014. Influence of abiotic factors and floral resource availability on daily foraging activity of bees: Influence of abiotic and biotic factors on bees. Journal of Insect Behavior 27(5): 592-612.

Siti Fatimah, S., Mohd Razif, M. & Izfa, R.H. 2018. Taxanomic study on selected species of stingless bee (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Meliponini) in Peninsular Malaysia. Serangga 23(2): 203-258.

Smith, F. 1857. Catalogue of the hymenopterous insects collected at Sarawak, Borneo; Mount Ophir, Malacca; and at Singapore. Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnaean Society of London Zoology 2(6): 42–88.

Vollet-Neto, A., Menezes, C. & Imperatriz-Fonseca, V.L. 2015. Behavioural and developmental responses of a stingless bee (Scaptotrigona depilis) to nest overheating. Apidologie 46: 455-464.

Wan Nur Asiah, W.M.A., Sajap, A.S., Adam, N.R. & Hamid, M.N. 2015. Flight intensity of two species of stingless bees Heterotrigona itama and Geniotrigona thoracica and its relationships with temperature, light intensity and relative humidity. Serangga 20(1): 35-42.

Young, A. M. 1983. Seasonal differences in abundance and distribution of cocoa-pollinating midges in relation to flowering and fruit set between shaded and sunny habitats of the La Lola Cocoa Farm in Costa Rica. Journal of Applied Ecology 20(3): 801-831.

Young, A.M. & Severson, D.W. 1994. Comparative analysis of steam distilled floral oils of cacao cultivars (Theobroma cacao L., Sterculiaceae) and attraction of flying insect: Implications for Theobroma pollination syndrome. Journal of Chemical Ecology 20(10): 2687-2703.

Zar, J.H. 1999. Biostatistical Analysis. Pearson education (US): Prentice Hall.


Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.