First report of a nest of Ceratina (Ceratinula) fioreseana Oliveira (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

ABSTRACT. We provide herein the first report of a nest of Ceratina (Ceratinula) fioreseana Oliveira, 2020, a species that was recently described for the Cerrado domain. The nest was collected in a Passiflora edulis Sims (Passifloraceae) plantation in Minas Gerais State, Brazil and was built in a trap nest, a dry petiole of Cecropia pachystachya Trécul (Urticaceae). Within the nest there was a living female and a brood cell without partition containing a pupa, whose adult female emerged 28 days after pupation. Pollen analysis revealed the dominance of Emilia fosbergii Nicolson (Asteraceae) pollen grains, a weed recorded a few meters from the nest. The record of an adult female within the nest with a pupa and the absence of nest partition might suggest social behavior in this bee species.

[1]  A. Rauf,et al.  Nest preference and ecology of cavity-nesting bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) in Punjab, Pakistan , 2022, Journal of Asia-Pacific Entomology.

[2]  D. Boscolo,et al.  Pollen analysis of cavity‐nesting bees (Hymenoptera: Anthophila) and their food webs in a city , 2021, Ecological Entomology.

[3]  E. Matoušková,et al.  Nesting of Ceratina nigrolabiata, a biparental bee , 2021, Scientific Reports.

[4]  F. C. V. Zanella,et al.  A new species of Ceratina (Ceratinula) Moure, 1941, with notes on the taxonomy and distribution of Ceratina (Ceratinula) manni Cockerell, 1912, and an identification key for species of this subgenus known from Brazil (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Ceratinini) , 2020, ZooKeys.

[5]  J. Straka,et al.  Natural history and maternal investment of Ceratina cucurbitina, the most common European small carpenter bee, in different European regions , 2020, Journal of Apicultural Research.

[6]  Sandra M. Rehan,et al.  Inclusive Fitness of Male and Facultatively Social Female Nesting Behavior in the Socially Polymorphic Bee, Ceratina australensis (Hymenoptera: Xylocopinae) , 2020, Annals of the Entomological Society of America.

[7]  Vani Kaliaperumal.  Nest Structure, Development and Natural Enemies of Ceratina hieroglyphica Smith, A Stem Nesting Bee Colonizing Cashew Trees in Hilly Terrains , 2019 .

[8]  J. Straka,et al.  Maternal investment in a bee species with facultative nest guarding and males heavier than females , 2019, Ecological Entomology.

[9]  A. Udayakumar,et al.  Nest architecture and life cycle of Small Carpenter bee, Ceratina binghami Cockerell (Xylocopinae: Apidae: Hymenoptera) , 2019, Sociobiology.

[10]  C. Michener,et al.  Observations on Nests of Ceratina in Costa Rica (Hymenoptera, Apoidea) , 2017 .

[11]  M. Engel,et al.  Notes on the Nesting Biology of the Small Carpenter Bee Ceratina smaragdula (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in Northwestern Pakistan , 2016, Florida Entomologist.

[12]  S. Tierney,et al.  Evidence for social nesting in Neotropical ceratinine bees , 2015, Insectes Sociaux.

[13]  Isabel Alves-dos-Santos,et al.  Checklist das abelhas e plantas melitófilas no Estado de São Paulo, Brasil , 2011 .

[14]  Sandra M. Rehan,et al.  Nesting Biology and DNA Barcode Analysis of Ceratina dupla and C. mikmaqi, and Comparisons with C. calcarata (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Xylocopinae) , 2011, The Canadian Entomologist.

[15]  Sandra M. Rehan,et al.  Nesting Biology and Subsociality in Ceratina calcarata (Hymenoptera: Apidae) , 2010, The Canadian Entomologist.

[16]  M. Schwarz,et al.  Evidence of Social Nesting in the Ceratina of Borneo (Hymenoptera: Apidae) , 2009 .

[17]  M. Kuhlmann,et al.  Pollen hosts of western palaearctic bees of the genus Colletes (Hymenoptera: Colletidae) : the Asteraceae paradox , 2008 .

[18]  M. Richards,et al.  Nesting Biology of a Neotropical Bee, Ceratina mexicana currani Schwarz (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Xylocopinae) , 2004 .

[19]  S. Sakagami,et al.  Oophagy and Egg Replacement in Artificially Induced Colonies of a Basically Solitary Bee, Ceratina (Ceratinidia) okinawana (Hymenoptera, Anthophoridae, Xylocopinae), with a Comparison of Social Behavior among Ceratina, Xylocopa and the Halictine Bees , 1995 .

[20]  S. Malaipan,et al.  Biology and nesting plant preference of small carpenter bees Ceratina spp. and Pithitis smaragdula (F.) (Anthophoridae) , 1992 .

[21]  S. Sakagami,et al.  Multifemale Nests and Rudimentary Castes of an "Almost" Solitary Bee Ceratina flavipes, with Additional Observations on Multifemale Nests of Ceratina japonica (Hymenoptera, Apoidea) , 1987 .

[22]  C. Schrottky.  Einige neue Bienen aus Süd-Amerika , 1914 .