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Contrasting foraging patterns for Africanized honeybees, native bees and native wasps in a tropical agroforestry landscape

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2009

Shalene Jha  and
John H. Vandermeer
Shalene Jha*
Affiliation:
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, 830 North University, Ann Arbor MI 48109, USA
John H. Vandermeer
Affiliation:
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, 830 North University, Ann Arbor MI 48109, USA
*
1Corresponding author. Email: sjha@umich.edu
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Abstract:

Ecological and temporal factors can influence animal foraging patterns and may obscure our understanding of how native and exotic species interact. To understand how such factors affect foraging, the visitation of native and exotic bees and wasps was observed at nectar feeders within Mexican agroforestry systems, while documenting (1) vegetation management (low-shade vs. high-shade coffee), (2) light and floral resource levels and (3) recruiting ability, as measured by the change in visitation between two consecutive experimental days. On day one, Africanized honeybee visitation was significantly greater in low-shade habitats, and native solitary bee abundance was significantly greater in high-shade habitats, while native social bee and solitary wasp visitation were not significantly different between habitat types. After 24 h, Africanized honeybee visitation increased significantly in both habitat types, while native social bee visitation increased significantly only in high-shade coffee. In contrast, native solitary bee and native solitary wasp visitation decreased in both habitat types. Overall, this study reveals that Africanized honeybees exhibit only initial foraging preference for low-shade habitats, while native bees exhibit both initial and delayed recruitment-based foraging preferences for high-shade habitats.

Keywords

concentrationdilutionMexicoresourceshade coffee
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 25 , Issue 1 , January 2009 , pp. 13 - 22
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

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References

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