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Ant repellent resins of honeybees and stingless bees

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Abstract

We measured the repellent effects of plant resins against the weaver ants, Oecophylla smaragdina. The resins were the sticky bands of the dwarf honeybees, Apis florea and A. andreniformis, propolis of the Western honeybee, A. mellifera and the nest entrance tubes of the stingless bees, Tetrigona apicalis, Lepidotrigona terminata, and Tetragonula collina. A bioassay was developed for testing the effects of these resins in field experiments by placing them along natural foraging pathways of ants’ nests. A repellency index was generated to quantify this bioactivity. The sticky bands of dwarf honeybees and propolis of A. mellifera were significantly more repellent against O. smaragdina than were the entrance tube resins of the stingless bees. Nonetheless, the diverse, viscid and adhesive resins employed by these bees constitute a generally effective first-line of defense against depredations of a formidable adversary, the weaver ants.

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Acknowledgments

Our thanks to Dr. Gudrun Koeniger for her kind support; Prof. Dr. Ulrich Maschwitz for valuable advice; Prof. Chariya Lekprayoon for providing facilities at Chulalongkorn University; Dr. Mananya Phiancharoen for her kind help. The Thailand Research Fund is acknowledged for financial support through the Royal Golden Jubilee Project. Colleen Hepburn kindly reviewed the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi, Ratchaburi Campus, Bangkok, 10140, Thailand

    O. Duangphakdee

  2. Institut für Bienenkunde (Polytechnische Gesellschaft), Fachbereich Biowissenschaften, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main, Karl-von-Frisch-Weg 2, 61440, Oberursel, Germany

    O. Duangphakdee & N. Koeniger

  3. Center of Excellence in Entomology: Bee Biology, Biodiversity of Insects and Mites, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, 10330, Thailand

    S. Deowanish

  4. Department of Zoology and Entomology, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, 6140, South Africa

    H. R. Hepburn

  5. School of Science, Mae Fah Luang University, Chiang Rai, 57100, Thailand

    S. Wongsiri

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  1. O. Duangphakdee
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  2. N. Koeniger
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  3. S. Deowanish
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  4. H. R. Hepburn
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  5. S. Wongsiri
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Correspondence to O. Duangphakdee.

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Duangphakdee, O., Koeniger, N., Deowanish, S. et al. Ant repellent resins of honeybees and stingless bees. Insect. Soc. 56, 333–339 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00040-009-0027-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00040-009-0027-z

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