Food niche of Exomalopsis (Exomalopsis) fulvofasciata Smith (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in Brazilian savannah: the importance of oil-producing plant species as pollen sources

ABSTRACT

Exomalopsis are ground-nesting species, and their food-niche breadth is little known due the difficulty in locating the nests and finding efficient bait plants to attract these bees. Some species of Exomalopsis were recorded as tomato, hot pepper and eggplant pollinators. Information about the food niche could be useful to increase Exomalopsis populations, providing consistent and comparable data for the enrichment of natural and crop areas with adequate plant sources. This study aimed to determine the food niche and the role of pollen size in the diet of E. fulvofasciata. We analysed pollen loads of 28 individuals of E. fulvofasciata collected from bait plants, in two natural areas of the Brazilian savannah. Only five pollen types belonging to the families Malpighiaceae, Solanaceae, Leguminosae, Myrtaceae and Lythraceae were important for this species. This result indicates that E. fulvofasciata is probably a polylectic species. However, we noticed that the Byrsonima used as bait plants contribute significantly for its larval provision, indicating that small pollen grains were more frequently collected.

KEYWORDS:

• Solitary bees
• pollen analyses
• anther type
• pollen size

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Dr Paulo Eugenio Oliveira (LAMOVI-IB/UFU) for the conditions offered by the laboratory and access to reference slide collections of the study areas; to Dr Ivan Schiavini for the identification of the bait plants; to the officers and employees of the State Park of Serra de Caldas for the collection conditions in the study area; to the project Biodiversity Patterns and Ecological Processes in the Cerrado Ecosystems in the region of the Triângulo Mineiro and Southeast of Goiás (sub-basin of the Paranaíba River).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

Thanks to Coordenadoria de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES), Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (PELD - 403733/2012-0) and Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais (FAPEMIG) for funding this study. S.C. Augusto received research fellowships from CNPq [307222/2012-8], and L. S. Rabelo received a grant from CAPES.