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All content in this area was uploaded by Claus Rasmussen on Jan 23, 2015
Content may be subject to copyright.
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Content may be subject to copyright.
Trigona pallens (Fabricius, 1798) (Hymenoptera: Apidae) strongly
attracted to vanillin in northeastern Peru
Nemésio, A.
a,
*, Seixas, DP.
a
and Rasmussen, C.
b
a
Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia. Rua Ceará, S/N, Campus Umuarama,
CEP 38.400-902, Uberlândia, MG, Brazil
b
Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade 114, Bldg. 1540, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
*e-mail: andre.nemesio@gmail.com
Received August 30, 2012 – Accepted September 17, 2012 – Distributed August 31, 2013
Since the late 1960’s, when it was realized that male
orchid bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Euglossina) are
strongly attracted to synthetic scents that mimic floral
fragrances of at least six plant families (Vogel, 1966;
Dodson et al., 1969; Dressler, 1982), the use of chemical
baits has become a powerful tool in ecological studies in
-
volving this group of Neotropical bees (e.g. Ackerman,
1983; Oliveira and Campos, 1996; Rasmussen, 2009;
Nemésio, 2010, 2011, 2012). This practice, however, re
-
vealed that other organisms are also occasionally at
-
tracted to these scents. These include many arthropods
such as spiders and insects and, among these latter,
Diptera, Neuroptera and Coleoptera have already been
reported, as well as several bees [e.g. Acanthopus
excellens Schrottky, 1902 (Apidae: Ericrocidini),
Lestrimelitta spp. (Apidae: Meliponini), Ptiloglossa spp.
(Colletidae: Diphaglossinae), Megalopta spp.
(Halictidae: Augochlorini)] (see Campos et al., 1989:
624; Melo, 1995: 283; Nemésio and Siqueira, 2011).
During an inventory in the region of Tarapoto
(06°27’ S, 76°20’ W), Department of San Martín, north-
eastern Peru, in late July and early August, 2012, seven
-
teen different scents were used to attract male orchid
bees. These scents were exposed early in the morning (ca.
08:00 h) and taken off by 16:00 h in six different sites at
different elevations (from 400 m to 1,000 m a.s.l.). One
or two researchers actively collected all bees that at
-
tended to the baits with insect nets. The collected speci
-
mens were killed in ethyl acetate and pinned for posterior
identification.
Contrary to most scents, which were displayed em
-
bedded in cotton waddings, vanillin (which is commer
-
cialized as a powder) was diluted in alcohol 92.8° and a
piece of string was immersed in the resulting solution.
The alcohol quickly evaporates and the result is a piece of
string completely impregnated with vanillin (see Figu
-
re 1), powerfully attracting males of many orchid-bee
species. Besides the orchid-bee males, in all six sampled
sites female specimens of Trigona pallens (Fabricius,
1798) (Apidae: Meliponini) were strongly attracted to
vanillin.
Two of us (AN and CR) have a large field experience
handling these scents and collecting orchid bees. Al
-
though the odd specimen of Meliponini is always at
-
tracted to one or some of the used chemical baits, it is the
first time we saw so many specimens attracted at once
and continuously (Figure 1). Females of Trigona pallens
were attracted to vanillin from the beginning to the end of
each sampling day and as they were usually left undis
-
turbed (only some voucher specimens were collected),
large aggregations - sometimes of tens of specimens -
could be seen “collecting” vanillin at our “vanillin
strings” (see Figure 1).
Due to the ability to rapidly recruit foragers to prom
-
ising resources, stingless bees are able to gather in large
number at food or nesting resources (e.g. Breed et al.,
2002; Nieh et al., 2003, 2004). Trigona pallens is other
-
wise not notably for any aberrant biology. The nest has
been found in several places around San Martín (C.R.
pers. obs.) and the distribution includes most of the Ama-
zonian region from northern South America and south-
ward. Nests are usually in the ground, among roots, or
base of trunks, frequently in association with termites
(Rasmussen and Camargo, 2008).
Male orchid bees supposedly use these scents as pre-
cursors of sexual feromones to attract females in court-
ship behavior (Eltz et al., 1999). Engaged in orchid-bee
collection activity as we were, it was not possible for us
to detect how or for which purpose females Trigona
pallens were involved in vanillin collection. Further
Braz. J. Biol., 2013, vol. 73, no. 3, p. 677-678 677
Figure 1 - String impregnated with vanillin placed inside the
forest at a site situated at 600 m a.s.l. in the region of
Tarapoto, San Martín, northeastern Peru. A: a group of fe
-
male Trigona pallens. B: two female Trigona pallens.
studies are required to determine how attractive vanillin
is to this species and which role it plays in its biology.
As Nemésio and Siqueira (2011) noted, bees and
other arthropods attracted to scents commonly used in or
-
chid-bee studies are usually not reported. Nevertheless,
these data may have a heuristic importance, calling atten
-
tion for previously unreported behaviors or aspects of the
natural history of some bee species. Moreover, it may
have a practical application in improving our ability to
detect these species in the field by the use of these chemi
-
cal attractants previously unknown to be attractive to spe
-
cies such as Trigona pallens.
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Nemésio, A., Seixas, DP. and Rasmussen, C.
