COMPORTAMENTO FORRAGEIRO DE Trigona spinipes

Abstract

The Trigona spinipes is a species of bee found throughout the Brazilian territory. Some authors consider them an effective pollinator of many crops, but can also be may be to the detriment of others. This study aimed to evaluate the forage behavior of the species T. spinipes to abiotic and biotic factors. The experiment was accomplished in the field of Apiculture and Sericulture Sector of Center of Agricultural Science belonging to the Federal University of Paraíba. Four feeders prepared with different levels of sucrose (0%, 25%, 50% and 75%), were arranged on sawhorses and placed in first, next to a hive of T. spinipes. These sawhorses were distanced from the hive of 10 to 10 meters until 100 meters of distance. In each distance the number of visitors to each hour of the day in each feeder was counted. Climatic variables of temperature, relative humidity, dew point, radiation and precipitation were registered in order to observe the behavior of the species in different climate conditions. It was observed that the foraging activity of bee T. spinipes was higher in function, primarily, of temperature and radiation variables. The relative humidity and the dew point Temperature decreased this activity. The T. spinipes exhibited a behavior of preference for solutions with higher levels of sucrose. A greater foraging activity was detected in the period of 10:00 the 14:00 h. The species also presented dominant behavior over the food supply making the approach of other species in the feeders difficult. No decrease was observed in the number of visitors of the species until the maximum distance observed. T. spinipes has your forage behavior modulated by climatic variables and can be considered a dominant species over the food source.