Bee Life in the City: an Analysis of the Pollen Provisions of Centris (Centris) flavifrons (Centridini) in an Urban Area

• Main Authors: Marcos Costa Dorea, Francisco de Assis Ribeiro dos Santos, Cândida Maria Lima Aguiar, Celso Feitosa Martins
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana 2017-09-01
• Series: Sociobiology
• Subjects: oil-collecting bees; trophic niche; diet; pollinators; oil-flowers
• Online Access: http://periodicos.uefs.br/index.php/sociobiology/article/view/1277

Due to deforestation and fragmentation of ecosystems, the management of bee populations targeting pollination services is increasingly urgent. Because urban environments are stressful, the dietary knowledge in such areas can help to cope with this issue in the near future. Using palynological analysis the floral resources used by Centris flavifrons, an important pollinator of crops and native plants was studied in an urban area. Byrsonima sericea type, Solanum paniculatum type, Cestrum type, and Myrcia type 1 together accounted for more than 93% of pollen grains foraged by females. It is noteworthy that this bee population depends on few plant species both for pollen and for oil. Furthermore, females showed flexibility to replace the primary pollen source in different breeding seasons, as well as one female could provision different cells in the same nest with different predominant pollen types. It is highlighted the importance of wastelands for keeping bee populations in urban areas.