Abstract
Male orchid bees collect volatile and semi-volatile compounds from the environment for storage and accumulation in specialized hind legs. Later, these compounds form a perfume blend used during courtship to lure conspecific females for mating. Male orchid bees perfume has been suggested to play an important role as a sexual signaling trait involved in pre-mating isolation of species, functioning as an indicator of male genetic quality. Eulaema nigrita Lepeletier (Apidae: Euglossini) is a common species in both forested and woody savanna (Cerrado stricto sensu) physiognomies of the Brazilian savanna biome. By identifying the chemical composition of male E. nigrita perfume, we tested for differences in the bouquet chemical profile in populations from remnants of seasonal semideciduous forest and woody savanna. In addition, we assessed the relation between perfume complexity and morphological traits associated with size and age of males. Our analysis showed a low effect of physiognomies on differences in the perfume chemical profile of sampled males. Nevertheless, we observed significant differences in the chemical profile of individuals from two seasonal semideciduous forest remnants, which suggests an environmental effect in individual bouquet. Wing wear measurements were positively related to perfume complexity, consistent with the premise that perfumes from older individuals are indicators of survival capacity in male orchid bees.
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The data underlying this article will be shared upon reasonable request to the corresponding author.
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Acknowledgements
We are grateful to Ana Luisa Melo, Léo Correia, Thayane Araújo, and Jean Souza for their support with data collection, and Mário Machado Martins for his assistance and training with the GC-MS equipment. The authors also acknowledge the workers/owners of all sampling localities for permission to collect in their reserve areas. Finally, we thank the anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments on previous versions of this manuscript.
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This work was supported by Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior—CAPES (Process 88887.337654/2019–00 to author KPC), Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico—CNPq (PELD-441142/2020–6), and Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais and Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais’—FAPEMIG (APQ 04815–17).
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The original project was designed by K. P. C. and S. C. A. Data collection was also performed by K. P. C. and S. C. A. A. T. T. and C. N. J. provided valuable assistances on the chemical analyses. K. P. C. was responsible for data analysis. The first draft of the manuscript was written by K. P. C. and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Palmera-Castrillon, K., Junqueira, C.N., Toci, A.T. et al. Complexity of the Male Perfume of Eulaema nigrita from Forest and Woody Physiognomies of the Brazilian Savanna: Is There a Relationship with Body Size and Wing Wear?. Neotrop Entomol 53, 330–341 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13744-023-01117-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13744-023-01117-2