Skip to main content
Springer Nature Link
Log in

Pollen partitioning of three species of Convolvulaceae among oligolectic bees in the Caatinga of Brazil

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Plant Systematics and Evolution Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

During the rainy season many species of Convolvulaceae bloom simultaneously in the Caatinga of northeast Brazil. In a Caatinga nature reserve we studied pollination and breeding systems of three sympatric species of Convolvulaceae, Ipomoea bahiensis, I. nil, and Merremia aegyptia, focusing on pollen partitioning among flower visitors and pollen flow. The study showed that only oligolectic bees collected pollen and that these species had different preferences among the three species of Convolvulaceae: pollen of Ipomoea bahiensis, the only self-incompatible species, was collected mainly by Melitoma segmentaria, M. osmioides, and Melitomella murihirta; pollen of I. nil by Lithurgus huberi; and that of Merremia aegyptia by Ancyloscelis apiformis and an undescribed species of this genus. Introduced honey bees visited only flowers of Merremia aegyptia, where they were extraordinarily frequent flower visitors. However, they discarded the pollen grains, which led to almost 50% pollen loss. No polylectic bee species compete for pollen with the oligolectic species. Partitioning of pollen diminishes competition for floral resources in this specialized plant–pollinator association.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aguiar CML, Martins CFM (1997) Abundância relativa, diversidade e fenologia de abelhas (Hymenoptera, Apoidea) na Caatinga, São João do Cariri, Paraíba, Brasil. Iheringia Sér Zool 83:151–163

    Google Scholar 

  • Aguiar CML, Zanella FCV (2005) Estrutura da comunidade de abelhas (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Apiformes) de uma área na margem do domínio caatinga (Itatim, BA). Neotrop Entomol 34:15–24

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alves-dos-Santos I (1999) Abelhas e plantas melíferas da mata atlântica, restinga e dunas do litoral norte do estado do Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil. Rev Bras Entomol 43:191–223

    Google Scholar 

  • Alves-dos-Santos I (2000) Notes on bees of the tribe Emphorini. In: IV Encontro sobre Abelhas. Ribeirão Preto, Brazil, pp 211–215

  • Alves-dos-Santos I, Wittmann D (1999) The proboscis of the long-tongued Ancyloscelis bees (Anthophoridae/Apoidea), with remarks on flowers visits and pollen colleting with the mouth parts. J Kansas Entomol Soc 72:253–264

    Google Scholar 

  • Alves-dos-Santos I, Wittmann D (2000) Legitimate pollination of the trimorphic flowers of Eichhornia azurea (Pontederiaceae) by Ancyloscelis gigas bees (Anthophoridae, Apoidea). Plant Syst Evol 223:127–137

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Armbruster WS, Herzig AL (1984) Partitioning and sharing of pollinators by four sympatric species of Dalechampia (Euphorbiaceae) in Panama. Ann Missouri Bot Gard 71:1–16

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Austin DF (1978) Morning glory bees and the Ipomoea pandurata complex (Hymenoptera: Anthophoridae). Proc Entomol Soc Wash 80(3):397–402

    Google Scholar 

  • Austin DF, Huáman Z (1996) A synopsis of Ipomoea (Convolvulaceae) in the Americas. Taxon 45:3–38

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barcellos NDE, Paupitz J (1992) Caracterização da região do Seridó, RN. In: Projeto PNUD/FAO/IBAMA/BRA/87/007, Plano de manejo florestal para a região de Seridó do Rio Grande do Norte. pp 1–10

  • Cane JH, Sipes S (2006) Characterizing floral specialization by bees: analytical methods and a revised lexicon for oligolecty. In: Waser NM, Ollerton J (eds) Plant-pollinator interactions from specialization to generalization. pp 99–122

  • Caruso CM (1999) Pollination of Ipomopsis aggregata (Polemoniaceae): effects of intra- vs. interspecific competition. Am J Bot 86(5):663–668

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ducke A (1908) Contribuition à la connaissance de la faune hyménopterologique du nord-est du Brésil. II Hyménoptères récoltés dans I’État de Ceara em 1908. Revue d’Entomologie 27:57–87

    Google Scholar 

  • Ducke A (1910) Explorações botânicas e entomológicas no Estado do Ceará. Rev Trim Inst Ceará 24:3–61

    Google Scholar 

  • Duque JG (1973) O Nordeste e as Lavouras Xerófilas, 2nd edn. Banco do Nordeste, Fortaleza, Ceará

    Google Scholar 

  • Gaglianone MC (2000) Behavior on flowers, structures involved in pollen transport and nesting biology of Perditomorpha brunerii and Cephalurgus anomalus (Hymenoptera: Colletidae, Andrenidae). Rev Biol Trop 48(1):89–99

    Google Scholar 

  • Gentry AH (1974) Flowering phenology and diversity in tropical Bignoniaceae. Biotropica 6:64–68

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gimenes M (1997) Pollination bees and other visitors of Ludwigia elegans (Onagraceae) flowers at tropical sites in Brazil. Stud Neotrop Fauna Environm 32:81–88

    Google Scholar 

  • Gimenes M (2002) Interactions between bees and Ludwigia elegans (Camb.) Hara (Onagraceae) flowers at different altitudes in São Paulo, Brazil. Rev Bras Zool 19(3):681–689

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Giulietti AM, Conceição AA, Queiroz LP (2006) Diversidade e caracterização das fanerógamas do Semi-árido Brasileiro, vol 1. Associação Plantas do Nordeste, Recife.

  • IBAMA (1989) Caracterização da estação Ecológica de Seridó—RN. Natal RN Projeto PNUD/FAO/BRAZIL

  • Kearns AC, Inouye DW (1993) Techniques for pollination biologists. University of Colorado Press, Niwot, CO

    Google Scholar 

  • Kiill LHP, Ranga NT (2000a) Biologia e sistema de reprodução de Jacquemontia multiflora (Choisy) Hallier f. (Convolvulaceae). Rev Bras Zool 23:37–43

    Google Scholar 

  • Kiill LHP, Ranga NT (2000b) Biologia da polinização de Merremia aegyptia (L.) Urb. (Convolvulaceae) no Sertão de Pernambuco. Naturalia 25:149–158

    Google Scholar 

  • Larkin LL, Neff JL, Simpson BB (2008) The evolution of a pollen diet: host choice and diet breadth of Andrena bees (Hymenoptera: Andrenidae). Apidologie 39:133–145

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Larsson M, Franzén M (2007) Critical resource levels of pollen for the declining bee Andrena hattorfiana (Hymenoptera, Andrenidae). Biol Cons 134:405–414

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Levin DA, Anderson WW (1970) Competition for pollinators between simultaneously flowering species. Am Nat 104:455–467

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Linsley EG, MacSwain JW (1957) The nesting habits, flower relationships, and parasites of North American Species of Diadasina (Hymenoptera: Anthophoridae). Wasmann J Biol 15:199–233

    Google Scholar 

  • Linsley EG, MacSwain JW, Smith RF (1956) Biological observations on Ptilothrix sumichrasti (Cresson) and some related groups of emphorine bees. Bull South Calif Acad Sci 55(2):83–101

    Google Scholar 

  • Linsley EG, MacSwain JW, Michener CD (1980) Nesting biology and associates of Melitoma (Hymenoptera, Anthophoridae). Univ Calif Publ Entomol 90:1–45

    Google Scholar 

  • Maimoni-Rodella RCS, Rodella AR (1992) Biologia floral de Ipomoea acuminata Roem. Et. Schult. (Convolvulaceae). Rev Bras Bot 15(2):129–133

    Google Scholar 

  • Maiomani-Rodella RCS, Rodella RA, Amaral A Jr, Yanagizawa Y (1982) Polinização em Ipomoea cairica (L.) Sweet. (Convolvulaceae). Naturalia 7:167–172

    Google Scholar 

  • Martins RP, Antonini Y (1994) The biology of Diadasina distincta (Holmberg, 1903) (Hymenoptera: Anthophoridae). Proc Entomol Soc Wash 96:553–560

    Google Scholar 

  • Martins RP, Borges JC (1999) Use of Ludwigia (Onagraceae) pollen by a specialist bee, Diadasina distincta (Hymenoptera: Apidae), at a nesting site in Southeastern Brazil. Biotropica 31(3):530–534

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McFarland JD, Kevan PG, Lane MA (1989) Pollination biology of Opuntia imbricata (Cactaceae) in southern Colorado. Can J Bot 67:24–28

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Michener CD (2007) The bees of the world. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore

    Google Scholar 

  • Michener CD, McGinley RJ, Danforth BN (1994) The bee genera of North and Central America (Hymenoptera: Apoidea). Smithsonian Institution, Washington

    Google Scholar 

  • Müller A, Diener S, Schnyder S, Stutz K, Sedivy C, Dorn S (2006) Quantitative pollen requirements of solitary bees: implications for bee conservation and the evolution of bee-flower relationships. Biol Cons 130:604–615

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Osborn MM, Kevan PG, Lane MA (1988) Pollination biology of Opuntia polyacantha and Opuntia phaeacantha (Cactaceae) in Southern Colorado. Plant Syst Evol 159:85–94

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pinheiro M, Schlindwein C (1998) A câmara nectarífera de Ipomoea cairica (Convolvulaceae) e abelhas de glossa longa como polinizadores eficientes. Iheringia Ser Bot 5:3–16

    Google Scholar 

  • Praz CJ, Müller A, Dorn S (2008) Specialized bees fail to develop on non-host pollen: do plants chemically protect their pollen? Ecology 89(3):795–804

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Robertson C (1925) Heterotropic bees. Ecology 6:412–436

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rust RW (1980) The biology of Ptilothrix bombiformes (Hymenoptera: Anthophoridae). J Kansas Entomol Soc 53:427–436

    Google Scholar 

  • Schlindwein C (1998) Frequent oligolecty characterizing a diverse bee-plant community in a xerophytic bushland of subtropical Brazil. Stud Neotrop Fauna Environm 33:46–59

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schlindwein C (2004) Are oligolectic bees always the most effective pollinators? In: Freitas BM, Pereira JO (eds) Solitary bees: conservation, rearing and management for pollination. Imprensa Universitária, Fortaleza, pp 231–240

    Google Scholar 

  • Schlindwein C, Martins CF (2000) Competition between the oligolectic bee Ptilothrix plumata (Anthophoridae) and the flower closing beetle Pristimerus calcaratus (Curculionidae), for floral resources of Pavonia cancellata (Malvaceae). Plant Syst Evol 224:183–194

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schlindwein C, Wittmann D (1995) Specialized solitary bees as effective pollinators of South Brazilian species of Notocactus and Gymnocalcium. Bradleya 13:25–34

    Google Scholar 

  • Schlindwein C, Wittmann D (1997) Stamen movements in flowers of Opuntia (Cactaceae) favour oligolectic pollinators. Plant Syst Evol 204:179–193

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schlindwein C, Wittmann D, Martins CF, Hamm A, Siqueira JA, Schiffler D, Machado IC (2005) Pollination of Campanula rapunculus L. (Campanulaceae): how much pollen flows into pollination and into reproduction of oligolectic pollinators? Plant Syst Evol 250:147–156

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schlindwein C, Pick RA, Martins CF (2009) Evaluation of oligolecty in the Brazilian bee Ptilothrix plumata (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Emphorini). Apidologie 40:106–116

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sedivy C, Praz CJ, Müller A, Widmer A, Dorn S (2008) Patterns of host-plant choice in bees of the genus Chelostoma: the constraint hypothesis of host-range evolution in bees. Evolution 62(10):2487–2507

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Simão-Bianchini R (2002) Distribuição das espécies de Convolvulaceae na Caatinga. In: Sampaio EVS, Giulietti AM, Virginio J (eds) Vegetação e flora da Caatinga. Recife. Associação Plantas do Nordeste, APNE Centro Nordestino de Informações sobre Plantas. CNIP 176, pp 133–136

  • Sipes SD, Tepedino VJ (2005) Pollen-host specificity and evolutionary patterns of host switching in a clade of specialist bees (Apoidea: Diadasia). Biol J Linnean Soc 86:487–505

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Snelling RR (1983) The North American species of the bee genus Lithurge (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). Contrib Sci 343:1–11

    Google Scholar 

  • Souza VC, Lorenzi H (2005) Botânica Sistemática: guia ilustrado para identificação das famílias de angiospermas da flora brasileira, baseado em APG II. Instituto Plantarum, São Paulo

    Google Scholar 

  • Westrich P (1989) Die Wildbienen Baden-Württembergs. Teil 1: Lebensräume, Verhalten, Ökologie und Schutz. Ulmer Verlag, Stuttgart

  • Zanella FCV, Martins CF (2003) Abelhas da caatinga: biogeografia, ecologia e conservação. In: Leal IR, Tabarelli M, Silva JMC (eds) Ecologia e conservação da caatinga. Editora Universitária, UFPE, Recife, pp 75–134

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank Fernando C.V. Zanella (UFCG) for his help in bee identification, Carlos Eduardo Nobre (UFPE) and Olaf Hermann Hendrik Mielke (UFPR) for identification of the butterflies, Rosângela Simão Bianchini for identification of the plants (Instituto de Botânica/SP), the staff of the Ecological Research Station ESEC-Seridó for logistical support, George Batista for botanical information about plants at the reserve, and IBAMA (Adson Borges Macedo) for permission to work in the nature reserve. Furthermore, we thank the members of the working group Plebeia-Ecologia de Abelhas e da Polinização for support in fieldwork, laboratory work, and for constructive discussions. The study was financially supported by the Brazilian Research Council-CNPq (471401/2006-4), Research Program in Biodiversity-PPBio Semi-árido, and grants from Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) to R.A.P. and the Brazilian Research Council to C.S.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Biológicas (Zoologia), Universidade Federal da Paraíba—UFPB, João Pessoa, PB, 58059-900, Brazil

    Raquel Andréa Pick

  2. Departamento de Botânica, Laboratório Plebeia—Ecologia de Abelhas e da Polinização, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Av. Prof. Moraes Rego, s/n, Cidade Universitária, Recife, PE, 50670-901, Brazil

    Clemens Schlindwein

Authors
  1. Raquel Andréa Pick
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

  2. Clemens Schlindwein
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Clemens Schlindwein.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Pick, R.A., Schlindwein, C. Pollen partitioning of three species of Convolvulaceae among oligolectic bees in the Caatinga of Brazil. Plant Syst Evol 293, 147–159 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00606-011-0432-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00606-011-0432-4

Keywords