Pollen preference of stingless bees (Melipona rufiventris and M. quadrifasciata anthidioides) inside an urban tropical forest at Rio de Janeiro city

Abstract

Rio de Janeiro city presents one of the biggest urban forests today comprising several types of vegetation, highlighting the Atlantic tropical rainforest. Maintenance of these ecosystems requires protection and strong and efficient pollination. The stingless bees are between its main pollinators. The present investigation aims to recognize and to compare the pollen source preference and competition between Melipona rufiventris and Melipona quadrifasciata anthidioides in the Parque Nacional da Tijuca (PNT) urban forest at Rio de Janeiro. Bee pollen pellets were collected and prepared without the use of acetolysis. Evaluation intended the comparison of the taxon percentages of pollen grains collected by the bees in the same morning time. Dominant plant species were of Alchornea, Eucalyptus, Mimosa caesalpiniifolia, Mimosa scabrella, Melastomataceae, Myrcia and Solanum. The favorite sources of the two bee species in collecting pollen in the rainforest of the PNT were partially distinct among them. Therefore, an overlapping of harvesting sources was not so frequent during a year. In this respect, the forest needs several species of bees for pollination and perpetuation.

Keywords:

• Atlantic rainforest
• bee pollen
• Melipona
• palynology
• pollinators
• Rio de Janeiro city

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Dr. Elen de Mello Souza for elaboration of Figure 2 and to the Associação de Meliponicultores do Rio de Janeiro - AME-RIO for encouragement and logistic support.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

Financial support by the Brazilian Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) and the Brazilian Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES).