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Pollen diets of two sibling orchid bee species, Euglossa, in Yucatán, southern Mexico

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Abstract

We investigated pollen diets of Euglossa viridissima Friese and its recently described sibling species, Euglossa dilemma Bembé & Eltz, in a degraded dry forest locality near Merida, Yucatán, Mexico. Pollen samples were obtained from nests collected in the rainy season of three consecutive years (2006–2008). Solanum sp. (Solanaceae), Physalis sp. (Solanaceae), Ocimum sp., Ocimum micranthum (both Lamiaceae), and Senna sp. (Fabaceae) were the dominant taxa, accounting for 88 % of pollen volume across species. Other important pollen taxa were Croton spp. (Euphorbiaceae), Ipomoea sp. (Convolvulaceae), Solanum torvum, Vigna sp. (Fabaceae), Sida sp. (Malvaceae), and Randia aculeata (Rubiaceae). The predominantly buzz-pollinated family Solanaceae alone represented more than 77 % of total pollen volume. Multivariate analysis revealed significant effects of year but not of bee species on nest pollen composition. We conclude that pollen resources overlap substantially among these sibling species, with resource partitioning apparently absent or confined to periods of severe pollen scarcity.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Jim Cane, Dave Roubik, and two anonymous reviewers for helpful comments on the manuscript. This study was supported by DFG grant EL 249/3 and 6.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, Ave. Centenario km 5.5, 77900, Chetumal, Quintana Roo, Mexico

    Rogel Villanueva-Gutierrez

  2. Departamento de Apicultura, Campus Ciencias Biológicas y Agropecuarias, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Xmatkuil, Mexico

    Javier Quezada-Euan

  3. Department of Animal Ecology, Evolution and Biodiversity, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universitätsstraße 150, 44780, Bochum, Germany

    Thomas Eltz

Authors
  1. Rogel Villanueva-Gutierrez
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  2. Javier Quezada-Euan
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  3. Thomas Eltz
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Correspondence to Thomas Eltz.

Additional information

Manuscript editor: Klaus Hartfelder

Régimes polliniques de 2 espèces jumelles de l’abeille à orchidée du genre Euglossa , dans le Yucatan, au sud du Mexique

Provision de pollen / répartition de la ressource / compétition alimentaire / ressource florale / acétolyse / analyse pollinique

Pollendiäten zweier nahverwandter Prachtbienenarten der Gattung Euglossa in Yucatán, südliches Mexiko

Pollenvorräte / Resourcenverteilung / Wettbewerb um pflanzliche Nahrungsquellen / Säureverdauung / Pollenanalyse

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Villanueva-Gutierrez, R., Quezada-Euan, J. & Eltz, T. Pollen diets of two sibling orchid bee species, Euglossa, in Yucatán, southern Mexico. Apidologie 44, 440–446 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13592-013-0194-9

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