The effect of intrinsic and extrinsic factors on flower constancy in stingless bees

Abstract

To enhance our understanding of the variability of flower constancy, we studied the influence of foraging conditions on the level of individual constancy in two species of stingless bees, Trigona dorsalis and Oxytrigona mellicolor, using a dimorphic artificial flower patch with equal reward in both flower types. Flower constancy increased greatly when the flower types were more dissimilar, and then approached constancy levels found for European honey bees. Sugar concentration had little effect on flower constancy. The presence of nestmates enhanced flower constancy somewhat in O. mellicolor but not in T. dorsalis, probably because of species-specific differences in local enhancement. The individual variability within treatments could be explained partly by individual variation in foraging tempo, with faster foraging leading to higher flower constancy.