Abstract
Partamona rustica is a stingless bee that occupies dry forests of Brazil, such as the cerrado (savanna-like biome) and caatinga (xeric shrubland and thorn forest), ranging from the northern portion of the state of Minas Gerais to the southwestern portion of the Bahia state. As this bee is endemic to these environments and its biology is poorly known, the aim of the present study was to investigate aspects of its natural history and biogeography. Moreover, the potential distribution of the species is analyzed through ecological niche modeling. Sampling was performed in the full range of distribution of the species. Nesting sites for 145 colonies, plants visited, and termite nests hosts were identified. Most of the termite nests in which the species nested were active (83 %) and corresponded to Constrictotermes cyphergaster. Pollen analyses revealed 62 pollen types from 30 families of angiosperms visited by P. rustica, the most common of which were from the families Leguminosae-Mimosoideae (11.1 %) and Myrtaceae (7.9 %). Partamona rustica occurs in areas at 500 ± 187.30 m above sea level with semi-arid climates. The climatic niche model revealed a very realistic range for P. rustica, contouring the Chapada Diamantina National Park by the east, where there are no records of the species. Given the ecological importance of bees as pollinators, the intense pressure exerted by bee hunters and environmental changes caused by human activities, the present findings underscore the importance of concentrating efforts on the conservation of dry areas and the endemic species that inhabit these forests.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aleixo KP, Faria LB, Garófalo CA, Imperatriz-Fonseca VL, Silva CI (2013) Pollen collected and foraging activities of Frieseomelitta varia (Lepeletier) (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in an urban landscape. Sociobiology 60:266–276
Anderson RP, Raza A (2010) The effect of the extent of the study region on GIS models of species geographic distributions and estimates of niche evolution: preliminary tests with montane rodents (genus Nephelomys) in Venezuela. J Biogeogr 37:1378–1393
Antonini Y, Costa RG, Martins RP (2006) Floral preferences of a neotropical stingless bee, Melipona quadrifasciata Lepeletier (Apidae: Meliponina) in an urban forest fragment. Brazil J Biol 66:463–471
Araújo RL (1970) Termites of the neotropical region. In: Krishna K, Weesner FM (eds) Biology of termites, 2nd edn. Academic Press, New York, pp 527–576
Barreto LS, Castro MS (2007) Ecologia de nidificação de abelhas do gênero Partamona (Hymenoptera: Apidae) na Caatinga, Milagres, Bahia. Biotropica Neotropical 7:87–92
Bauermann SG, Radaeski JN, Evaldt ACP, Queiroz EP, Mourelle D, Prieto AR, Silva CI (2013) Pólen nas angiospermas: diversidade e evolução. ULBRA, Canoas 214p
Camargo JMF, Pedro SRM (2003) Meliponini Neotropicais: o Gênero Partamona Schwarz, 1939 (Hymenoptera: Apidae, Apinae)—Bionomia e Biogeografia. Rev Brasil Entomol 47:31–372
Camargo JMF, Pedro SRM (2013) Meliponini Lepeletier, 1836. In: Moure JS, Urban D, Melo GA (eds) Catalogue of Bees (Hymenoptera, Apoidea) in the Neotropical Region, online version. Available at http://www.moure.cria.org.br/catalogue. Accessed 29 Nov 2014
Castelletti CHM, Santos AM, Tabarelli M, Silva JMC (2003) Quanto ainda resta da Caatinga? Uma estimativa preliminar. In: Leal IR, Tabarelli M, Silva JMC (eds) Ecologia e conservação da caatinga. Editora Universitária da UFPE, Recife, pp 719–734
Constantino R (1998) Catalog of the living termites of the new world (Insecta: Isoptera). Arquiv Zool 35:135–231
Corsi F, Dupr E, Boitani L (1999) A large-scale model of wolf distribution in Italy for conservation planning. Cons Biol 13:150–159
Cortopassi-Laurino M, Ramalho M (1988) Polen harvest by Africanized Apis mellifera and Trigona spinipes in São Paulo: Botanical and ecological views. Apidologie 19:1–24
Eltz T, Bruhl CA, van der Kaars S, Chey VK, Linsenmair KE (2001) Pollen foraging and resource partitioning of stingless bees in relation to flowering dynamics in a Southeast Asian tropical rainforest. Insect Soc 48:273–279
Erdtman G (1960) The acetolysis method. A revised description. Svensk Botanisk Tidskrift 54:561–564
Faria LB, Aleixo KP, Garófalo CA, Imperatriz-Fonseca VL, Silva CI (2012) Foraging of Scaptotrigona aff. depilis (Hymenoptera, Apidae) in an urbanized area: seasonality in resource availability and visited plants. Psyche. Article ID 630628, pp 12
Ferreira MG, Manente-Balestieri FCD, Balestieri JBP (2010) Pollen harvest by Scaptotrigona depilis (Moure) (Hymenoptera, Meliponini) in Dourados, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. Rev Brasil Entomol 54:258–262
Giannini TC, Acosta AL, Garófalo CA, Saraiva AM, Alves dos Santos I, Imperatriz-Fonseca VL (2012) Pollination services at risk: bee habitats will decrease owing to climate change in Brazil. Ecol Model 244:127–131
Giannini TC, Acosta AL, Silva CI, Oliveira PEAM, Imperatriz-Fonseca VL, Saraiva AM (2013) Identifying the areas to preserve passion fruit pollination service in Brazilian Tropical Savannas under climate change. Agric Ecosyst Environ 171:39–46
Giulietti AM, Harley RM, Queiroz LP, Rapini A (2006) Apresentando o cenário. In: Queiroz LP, Rapini A, Giulietti AM (eds) Rumo ao Amplo Conhecimento da Biodiversidade do Semi-árido Brasileiro. Ministério da Ciência e Tecnologia (MCT), Brasília, pp 15–18
Godinho AL, Lins LV, Gontijo TA, Domingos DJ (1989) Aspectos da ecologia de Constrictotermes cyphergaster (Termitidae: Nasutitermitinae) em cerrado, Sete Lagoas/MG. Brazil J Biol 49:703–708
Hammer Ø, Harper DAT, Ryan PD (2001) PAST: paleontological statistics software package for education and data analysis. Palaeontol Electron 4:1–9
Imperatriz-Fonseca VL, Kleinert-Giovannini A, Ramalho M (1989) Pollen harvest by eusocial bees in a non-natural community in Brazil. J Trop Ecol 5:239–242
Klein AM, Vaissiere BE, Cane JH (2007) Importance of pollinators in changing landscapes for world crops. Proc Roy Soc B 274:303–313
Kleinert AMP, Ramalho M, Cortopassi-Laurino M, Ribeiro MF, Imperatriz-Fonseca VL (2009) Abelhas sociais (Bombini, Apini, Meliponini). In: Panizzi AR, Parra JRP (eds) Biotecnologia e Nutrição de Insetos—base Para o Manejo Integrado de Pragas, Embrapa, pp 373–426
Klink CA, Machado RB (2005) Conservation of the Brazilian Cerrado. Cons Biol 19:707–713
Knight ME, Osborne JL, Sanderson RA, Hale RJ, Martin AP, Goulson D (2009) Bumblebee nest density and the scale of available forage in arable landscapes. Insect Conserv Div 2:116–124
Lorenzon MC, Bandeira A, Aquino H, Maracajá-Filho N (1999) Relationship between Partamona (HYM., APIDAE) and Constrictotermes (Isop., Termitidae) in the semiarid region of the Paraíba state. Brazil. Rev Nordestina Biol 13:61–68
MacArthur RH, Pianka ER (1966) On optimal use of a patchy environment. Am Nat 916:604–609
Maia-Silva C, Silva CI, Hrncir M, Queiroz RT, Imperatriz-Fonseca VL (2012) Guia de plantas visitadas por abelhas na caatinga. Editora Fundação Brasil Cidadão, Fortaleza 189p
Marques-Souza AC, Absy ML, Kerr WE (2007) Pollen harvest features of the Central Amazonian bee Scaptotrigona fulvicutis Moure 1964 (Apidae: Meliponinae), in Brazil. Acta Botanica Brasil 21:11–20
Melo ACS, Bandeira AG (2004) A qualitative and quantitative survey of termites (Isoptera) in an open shrubby Caatinga, Northeast Brazil. Sociobiol 44:707–716
Ministério do Meio Ambiente (MMA) (2014) Caatinga. http://www.mma.gov.br/biomas/Caatinga. Accessed 25 July 2014
Montero I, Tormo R (1990) Análisis polínico de mieles de cuatro zonas montanhosas de Extremadura. Nacional Asociación Palinologica Lengua Española 5:71–78
Myers N, Mittermeier RA, Mittermeier CG, Fonseca GAB, Kent J (2000) Biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities. Nature 403:853–858
Neves EL, Castro MS (2006) Mandaçaia: uma abelha chave para a conservação da Caatinga. Candombá—Revista Virtual. Salvador 2:1–3
Nogueira-Neto PA (1953) Criação de abelhas indígenas sem ferrão. Chácaras e Quintais, São Paulo, pp 367–390
Novais, JS, Absy, ML, Santos, FAR (2013) Pollen grains in honeys produced by Tetragonisca angustula (Latreille, 1811) (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in tropical semi-arid areas of north-eastern Brazil. Arthropod–Plant Interactions: 619–632
Ollerton F, Winfree R, Tarrant S (2011) How many flowering plants are pollinated by animals? Oikos 120:321–326
Pedro SRM, Camargo JMF (2003) Meliponini neotropicais: o gênero Partamona Schwarz, 1939 Hymenoptera, Apidae. Rev Brasil Entomol 47:1–117
Peterson AT (2011) Ecological niche conservatism: a time-structured review of evidence. J Biogeog 38:817–827
Phillips SJ, Dudík M (2008) Modeling of species distributions with Maxent: new extensions and a comprehensive evaluation. Ecography 31:161–175
Phillips SJ, Anderson RP, Schapire RE (2006) Maximum entropy modelling of species geographic distributions. Ecol Model 190:231–259
Pielou EC (1966) The measurement of diversity in different types of biological collection. J Theor Biol 13:131–144
Ramalho M (1990) Foraging by stingless bees of the genus Scaptotrigona (Apidae, Meliponinae). J Apic Res 29:61–67
Rosauer D, Laffan SW, Crisp MD, Donnellan SC, Cook LG (2009) Phylogenetic endemism: a new approach for identifying geographical concentrations of evolutionary history. Mol Ecol 18:4061–4072
Schmidt K (2007) Distribuição potencial de espécies de Isoptera e conservação do cerrado. Dissertation, Universidade de Brasília
Shannon CE, Weaver W (1949) The Mathematical Theory of Communication. University of Illinois Press, Urbana, pp 1–55
Silva CI, Ballesteros PLO, Palmero MA (2010) Catálogo polínico: palinologia aplicada em estudos de conservação de abelhas do gênero Xylocopa no Triângulo Mineiro. EDUFU, Uberlândia, p 154
Silva CI, Groppo M, Bauermann SG, Imperatriz-Fonseca VL, Saraiva AM, Queiroz EP, Evaldt ACP, Aleixo KP, Castro JP, Castro MMN, Faria LB, Ferreira-Caliman MJ, Wolff JL, Paulino-Neto HF, Garófalo CA (2014) Catálogo polínico das plantas usadas por abelhas no Campus da USP de Ribeirão Preto. Holos, Ribeirão Preto 153p
Silveira FA, Melo GAR, Almeida EAB (2002) Abelhas Brasileiras: sistemática e identificação. Editora IDMA, Belo Horizonte 253p
Slaa EJ, Chaves LAS, Malagodi-Braga KS, Hofsted FE (2006) Stingless bees in applied pollination: practice and perspectives. Apidologie 37:293–315
Svenning JC, Flojgaard C, Marske KA, Nogues-Bravo D, Normand S (2011) Applications of species distribution modeling to paleobiology. Quat Sci Rev 30:2930–2947
Wratten SD, Gillespie G, Decourtyec D, Maderd E, Desneuxf N (2012) Pollinator habitat enhancement: benefits to other ecosystem services. Agric Ecosyst Environ 159:112–122
Zanella FCV, Martins CF (2008) Abelhas da Caatinga: Biogeografia, Ecologia e Conservação. Ecologia e Conservação da Caatinga. Editora da UFPE, Recife, pp 75–134
Acknowledgments
The authors are grateful to the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) for financial support (Process numbers 2011/21501-2, 2012/23342-1 and 2011/13391-2), Dr Silvia Regina de Menezes Pedro (FFCLRP-USP), and Dr Eliana Marques Cancello (MZ-USP) for the taxonomic identification of the bees and termites, respectively, Dr Carlos Alberto Garófalo (FFCLRP-USP) for the use of the Palynology Laboratory, and all the beekeepers and other individuals from the 32 visited sites that assisted during the surveying expeditions.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Electronic supplementary material
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Miranda, E.A., Carvalho, A.F., Andrade-Silva, A.C.R. et al. Natural history and biogeography of Partamona rustica, an endemic bee in dry forests of Brazil. Insect. Soc. 62, 255–263 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00040-015-0400-z
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00040-015-0400-z