FANNING BEHAVIOR OF STINGLESS BEE, Heterotrigona itama (COCKERELL, 1918) (HYMENOPTERA: APIDAE)

Fahimee Jaapar, Zulidzham Mohd Sani, Salmah Yaakop

Abstract


The increase of temperature shows a negative impact on the behavior of the insects live in colonies, including the stingless bees. The stingless bees employ the fanning behavior as the best method to remove excess heat within colonies. The objective of this study was to investigate the fanning behavior of the Heterotrigona itama (Cockerell) in relation to regulate inner temperature and relative humidity. This study was conducted from January 2023 to May 2023 using three colonies. The fanning behavior of H. itama has been observed from 0800H until 1700H for 5 minutes per hour per 3 days for 5 months with camera recorder. There were significant differences between time and fanning behavior (F9,449 = 34.96, P>0.005) from 0800H to 1700H. In addition, the frequency of fanning behavior increased when the temperature hit on 28ºC±SD and stop when the temperature below 27ºC±SD and showed a significant difference (F70,449 = 42.59, P>0.005). Furthermore, changes of humidity also stimulate the fanning behavior of H. itama and showed a significant different (F41,449 = 36.83, P>0.05). Besides that, the fanning behavior started with aggregation of workers at the entrance and the leader site at the top of the entrance to stimulate other workers to fan the hives according to the changes of the temperature. The fanning behavior occurred during the hot season to reduce the temperature inside the colony, while stabilizing the humidity inside the colony during the raining seasons.


Full Text:

PDF

References


Campos F., Gois, G. & Carneiro, G. 2010. Colonial thermoregulation in stingless bees (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Meliponini). Pubvet 4(24): 1-8.

De Paula, G.T., Menezes, C., Pupo, M.T. & Rosa, C.A. 2021. Stingless bees and microbial interactions. CurrentOpinion in InsectSscience 44: 41-47.

Fahimee, J., Reward, N.F., Sani, Z.M., Nizar, M. & Salmah, Y. 2021. Pentermokalaturan: Penyesuaian lebah kelulut bagi menangani kesan perubahan cuaca. Buletin Teknologi MARDI 26(2021): 119-126.

Gonzalez, V.H., Amith, J.D. & Stein, T.J. 2018. Nesting ecology and the cultural importance of stingless bees to speakers of Yoloxóchitl Mixtec, an endangered language in Guerrero, Mexico. Apidologie 49: 625-636.

Halcroft, M.T., Haigh, A.M., Holmes, S.P. & Spooner-Hart, R.N. 2013. The thermal environment of nests of the Australian stingless bee, Austroplebeia australis. Insectes Sociaux 60: 497-506.

Heinrich, B. 1993. Hot-Headed Honeybees. Strategies and Mechanisms of Thermoregulation. Heidelberg: Springer Berlin.

Jaapar, M.F., Halim, M., Mispan, M.R., Jajuli, R., Saranum, M.M., Zainuddin, M.Y., Ghazi, R. & Abd-Ghani, I. 2016. The diversity and abundance of stingless bee (Hymenoptera: Meliponini) in Peninsular Malaysia. Advances in Environmental Biology 10: 1-8.

Jaapar, M.F., Jajuli, R., Mispan, M.R. & Ghani, I.A. 2018. Foraging behavior of stingless bee Heterotrigona itama (Cockerell, 1918) (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Meliponini). AIP Conference proceedings 1940: 020037.

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

Kaspar, R.E., Cook, C.N. & Breed, M.D. 2018. Experienced individuals influence the thermoregulatory fanning behaviour in honey bee colonies. Animal Behaviour 142: 69-76.

Menezes, C., Vollet-Neto, A. & Fonseca, V.L.I. 2013. An advance in the in vitro rearing of stingless bee queens. Apidologie 44: 491-500.

Nicolson, S.W., Human, H. & Pirk, C.W. 2022.Honey bees save energy in honey processing by dehydrating nectar before returning to the nest. Scientific Reports 12: 16224.

Oldroyd, B.P. & Aanen, D.K. 2015. Entomology: A bee farming a fungus. Current Biology 25: R1072-R1074.

Paludo, C.R., Menezes, C., Silva-Junior, E.A., Vollet-Neto, A., Andrade-Dominguez, A., Pishchany, G., Khadempour, L., Do-Nascimento, F.S., Currie, C.R., Kolter, R., Clardy, J. & Pupo, M.T. 2018. Stingless bee larvae require fungal steroid to pupate. Scientific Reports 8: 1122.

Pereboom, J. & Biesmeijer, J. 2003. Thermal constraints for stingless bee foragers: The importance of body size and coloration. Oecologia 137: 42-50.

Peters, J.M., Peleg, O. & Mahadevan, L. 2019. Collective ventilation in honeybee nests. Journal of The Royal Society Interface 16: 20180561.

Schmaranzer, S. 2000. Thermoregulation of water collecting honey bees (Apis mellifera). Journal of Insect Physiology 46: 1187-1194.

Stabentheiner, A. 2001. Thermoregulation of dancing bees: thoracic temperature of pollen and nectar foragers in relation to profitability of foraging and colony need. Journal of Insect Physiology 47: 385-392.

Suparta, W. & Yatim, A.N.M. 2019. Characterization of heat waves: A case study for Peninsular Malaysia. Geographia Technica 14(1): 146-155.

Tangang, F.T., Juneng, L. & Ahmad, S. 2007. Trend and interannual variability of temperature in Malaysia: 1961–2002. Theoretical and Applied Climatology 89: 127-141.

Vollet-Neto, A., Menezes, C. & Imperatriz-Fonseca, V.L. 2011. Brood production increases when artificial heating is provided to colonies of stingless bees. Journal of Apicultural Research 50: 242-247.

Yang, M., Radloff, S., Tan, K. & Hepburn, R. 2010. Anti-predator fan-blowing in guard bees, Apis mellifera capensis Esch. Journal of insect behavior 23: 12-18.


Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.