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Seasonal changes in odour preferences by male euglossine bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae) and their ecological implications

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Abstract

Orchid bees are an important group of specialized insect pollinators in the Neotropics. Male orchid bees are attracted by a wide range of aromatic substances often produced by flowers. Previous studies found that in some species the males change their aromatic preferences between seasons. In our study we documented seasonal changes of aromatic preferences in five euglossine bee assemblages along a 380-km-long seasonality and precipitation gradient and related them to climatic factors. We found that the proportion of species per site showing changes in their aromatic preference between seasons increased with climatic seasonality towards the south. Those species mainly belong to the genus Euglossa, subgenus Euglossa. We conclude that climatic seasonality mainly affects the orchid bees via the turnover of the aromatic substances provided by the plants. Further, we suggest that the ability to change the aromatic preference between seasons could be interpreted as a phylogenetic pre-adaptation that enabled some species to colonize climatically strongly seasonal habitats.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Y. Gareca, C. Hamel, S.K. Herzog, S. Reichle, V. Sandoval, and J.Q. Vidoz for their support and advice during fieldwork. We are grateful to the Botanical Garden in Santa Cruz; the University of Cochabamba, Prometa; the municipal governments of Villa Tunari and Río Seco; and R. Clarke Gemuseus for the permission to work on their land. Furthermore, we thank B. Bembé and G. Gerlach for technical advice, C. Rasmussen and B. Bembé for the support and advice in identifying the specimens, and M. Schwerdtfeger for the baiting agents. Funding was provided by the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung and the DFG (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Systematic Botany, University of Zurich, Zollikerstrasse 107, 8008, Zurich, Switzerland

    Stefan Abrahamczyk & Michael Kessler

  2. Department of Systematic Botany, University of Goettingen, Untere Karspuele 2, 37073, Goettingen, Germany

    Peter Gottleuber

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  1. Stefan Abrahamczyk
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  2. Peter Gottleuber
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  3. Michael Kessler
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Correspondence to Stefan Abrahamczyk.

Additional information

Manuscript Editor: Bernd Grünewald

Changements saisonniers dans les préférences olfactives des mâles d’abeilles Euglossine (Hymenoptera: Apidae) et leur implication écologique.

gradient climatique/précipitations/température/distribution/espèce généraliste

Jahreszeitliche Änderungen der Duftpräferenzen männlicher Prachtbienen (Euglossini, Hymenoptera: Apidae) und ihrer ökologischen Auswirkungen.

Klimatischer Gradient/ Niederschlag/ Temperatur/ Ausbreitung/ Generalist

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Abrahamczyk, S., Gottleuber, P. & Kessler, M. Seasonal changes in odour preferences by male euglossine bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae) and their ecological implications. Apidologie 43, 212–217 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13592-011-0096-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13592-011-0096-7

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