Nesting biology and mating behavior of the solitary bee Epicharis nigrita (Apoidea: Centridini)

Abstract

Centridini bees are key pollinators of many wild and cultivated plant species, but data on their biology remain limited. An aggregation of nests of Epicharis nigrita was studied in an urban area during four nesting seasons (generations). Epicharis nigrita is a univoltine species and nests are built during 3.5 months per year (middle November to February). Females dig their nests in flat, bare or sparsely vegetated sandy soil. The peak in nest density occurred at the end of December or in the first week of January (3.0–32.3 nests/m²), corresponding to 900–9690 estimated nests in the area. Females performed about 10 flights/day and, unexpectedly, spent the night outside the nest. The average period of female activity in each nest was 6.9 d. Nests contained 4–5 brood cells, different from other observations of this species. Female plasticity in the duration of activities at nests, and consequently the number of brood cells produced per nest, is discussed. The first direct record of Rhathymus bicolor emerging from E. nigrita brood cells is provided. Males patrolled nest sites, where females mated with only one male despite attempts by 1–5 males to mate simultaneously with a female.

Keywords:

• ground nesting
• nest density
• male patrolling
• cleptoparasites
• Rhathymus bicolor

Acknowledgements

We thank the staff of HNL, especially Severino Celestino da Silva Filho, Ivaldo Medeiros, Jairo Paiva, and Francisca Célia Pedrosa for allowing the study in the hospital garden; Marcus Paulo Sales Costa in memoriam, Jean Miguel Alves dos Santos, Milena Almeida Vaz, Reisla Silva de Oliveira, and Ana Laura Araujo Franco Dutra Pimentel for help in field work; Paulo André Borges Pereira for layout of Figure 4, Marcos C. Dórea for pollen analysis, and the National Research Council for financial support.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary material

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Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by National Research Council [CNPq, 302976/2015-9].