Padrão de atividade diária de Melipona scutellaris Latreille, 1811 e Melipona quadrifasciata Lepeletier, 1836 (Apidae, Meliponini) e a influência dos fatores climáticos

Abstract

Stingless bees (Apidae, Apinae, Meliponini) are highly eusocial and have a geographical distribution in the tropical and subtropical regions of the planet. The action of weather conditions influences the behavior and, consequently, the daily flight activity of bees, especially in the eusocial species of the Melipona genus, with the influence of temperature, relative humidity and light intensity standing out. Based on the importance of the daily flight activities of bees of the genus Melipona and the factors that can influence these activities, this study aimed to investigate the daily external activities of Melipona quadrifasciata and Melipona scutellaris by assessing the presence or absence of flight activity patterns throughout the day in different months of the year and also the influence of meteorological elements on these activities. The field study took place at the Rio Seco Agroecology Research Center (CEARIS). The research was carried out in the months of November/21, February/22¸ April/22 and June/22. To analyze the daily flight activity patterns of the bees, the Circular Statistics method was applied, using the Rayleigh test. For the statistical analysis of the influence of meteorological factors on the daily flight activities of the Melipona species considered in the study, the method of multiple linear regressions was used. The results obtained from observations of the daily activities of M. scutellaris and M. quadrifasciata showed that the external activities of these bees, such as pollen collection, occur mostly in the morning. The abiotic factors that influenced the activities of the three colonies studied in the study area were temperature and light intensity. From this study, it was observed that the bees of the genus Melipona showed daily flight activities mostly in the morning, and with preferre time, that can characterize daily biological rhythmd, for pollen entrance ativities, and were found in the three colonies in the months of the study. Therefore, daily flight activity may have a daily biological rhythm and be influenced by abiotic factors such as temperature and light intensity.