Abstract

FLORES-PRADO, LUIS; CHIAPPA, ELIZABETH  and  MANTE, MÓNICA. Interactions between females of Protandrena evansi (Hymenoptera: Andrenidae), a communal nesting bee. Rev. Colomb. Entomol. [online]. 2012, vol.38, n.1, pp.118-123. ISSN 0120-0488.

This paper reports the results of a behavioral study carried out at Farellones, Metropolitan Region, Chile, using females of Protandrena evansi. Tolerant and intolerant behaviors were observed in an experimental arena where pairs of females from the same nest (intra-nest interaction) or from different nest (inter-nest interaction) were placed. Neither tolerant nor intolerant behaviors were different between intra-nest and inter-nest females. In a second experiment the behavioral responses performed by females towards cuticular extracts from nestmate and from non-nestmate females were evaluated. Both bioassays showed that P. evansi females do not exhibit a discriminative behavioral pattern between nestmate and non-nestmate females. Additionally, tolerant behaviors were the most frequent in both experimental interactions (intra and inter-nest interactions). These results suggest that this species has a communal social structure.

Keywords : Tolerant behaviour; Communal species; Hymenoptera; Chile.

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