Trigona corvina: An ecological study based on unusual nest structure and pollen analysis

Abstract

We found that the nest of Trigona corvina (Apidae; Meliponini) consists mainly of pollen exines from bee excrement, forming a scutellum shield encasing the colony. A 20-year-old nest (1980-2000) from a lowland Panama forested habitat was sawed in half longitudinally, and a 95cm transect was systematically sampled each 5cm. Samples subjected to detailed pollen analysis held 72 botanical species belonging to 65 genera in 41 families. Over 90 of scutellum pollen volume was Cecropiaceae and Arecaceae, among > 10 13 grains. Potentially the oldest samples, in the middle of the nest, indicate that Mimosoideae, Euphorbiaceae, and Bombacaceae (now Malvaceae) were lost when Africanized honey bee competitors colonized Panama in 1984. Cecropia deposited in the nest increased markedly after landscape-level vegetation disturbance. Pollen from Cavanillesia demonstrated that the foraging range encompassed 3 km 2 and perhaps 500 plant species. Trigona corvina primarily foraged on plants with large inflorescences, consistent with foraging theory considering their aggressive behavior. Copyright © 2009 D.W. Roubik and J. E. Moreno Patino.