Villanueva-Gutiérrez R; Quezada-Euán J J G, Eltz T. 2013. Pollen diets of two sibling orchid bee species, Euglossa, in Yucatán, southern Mexico. Apidologie 44:440–446. 

 

Abstract

We investigated pollen diets of Euglossa viridissima Friese and its recently described sibling species, Euglossa dilemma Bembé & Eltz, in a degraded dry forest locality near Merida, Yucatán, Mexico. Pollen samples were obtained from nests collected in the rainy season of three consecutive years (2006–2008). Solanum sp. (Solanaceae), Physalis sp. (Solanaceae), Ocimum sp., Ocimum micranthum (both Lamiaceae), and Senna sp. (Fabaceae) were the dominant taxa, accounting for 88 % of pollen volume across species. Other important pollen taxa were Croton spp. (Euphorbiaceae), Ipomoea sp. (Convolvulaceae), Solanum torvum, Vigna sp. (Fabaceae), Sida sp. (Malvaceae), and Randia aculeata (Rubiaceae). The predominantly buzz-pollinated family Solanaceae alone represented more than 77 % of total pollen volume. Multivariate analysis revealed significant effects of year but not of bee species on nest pollen composition. We conclude that pollen resources overlap substantially among these sibling species, with resource partitioning apparently absent or confined to periods of severe pollen scarcity.

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