Centris analis

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Centris analis
Centris analis pinned specimen.jpg
Centris analis pinned specimen
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Apidae
Genus: Centris
Species:
C. analis
Binomial name
Centris analis
Fabricius, 1804 [1]

Centris analis is a solitary, oil-collecting bee with a geographical range extending from Brazil to Mexico. [2] C. analis is a small, fast-flying bee with an average head width of 3.21mm and 3.54mm for males and females, respectively. [2] While most species of the genus Centris create burrows for nesting, C. analis and other species of the subgenus Heterocentris build nests in pre-existing cavities rather than in the ground. [3] C. analis is a pollinator of many plant species, especially of those in the family Malpighiaceae, which has encouraged its application in acerola orchards. [4] [5]

Contents

Habitat

Centris analis is a habitat generalist as it has been found living in a wide variety of different habitats. [3] [6] Frankie et al. [6] examined the habitat preferences of Centris species in Costa Rica and C. analis was found in equal abundances across a wide variety of habitats including dry deciduous forest, riparian forest, savanna, mesic forest, and regenerative forest. In Brazil, C. analis has been observed in regions with distinct differences in environmental conditions including the rainforest, caatinga, and cerrado. [3] C. analis has also been studied in urban environments. [7]

Diet

Larvae feed on pollen and nectar which are foraged by adult females and stocked inside brood cells where the larvae develop. [8] While larvae feed on pollen and nectar, adults only feed on nectar. [3] Females collect pollen from a wide variety of species and families but display a preference for species of the Malpighiaceae family which includes the popular acerola shrubs. [5] [7] Malpighiaceae plants also produce floral oils which females use in constructing their nests. [5] [7] While pollen and oils are primarily obtained from Malpighiaceae species, nectar is collected from other plants of the families Fabaceae, Verbenaceae, Convolvulaceae, and Bignoniaceae. [7] [3]

Reproduction

After mating, females spend lots of time finding a suitable cavity for nesting, often inspecting many before choosing one. [9] One factor affecting cavity choice is the presence of landmarks which females rely on to find their nest. [2] Other factors affecting cavity choice include substrate, shade, and entrance orientation with females preferring wood cavities in shaded areas with the cavity entrance orientated in the same direction as the wind. [10] While length of cavity varies between nests, females mainly choose cavities with a diameter of six to eight millimeters. [6] [3] C. analis can use a variety of small cavities to build nests in including old nests originally created by other bees and wasps, [9] cavities made by woodboring beetles, [6] and artificial trap nests which are specifically designed to attract and build populations of cavity-nesting bees. [9]

Nesting and oviposition

Nest building occurs in a specific pattern where females first obtain plant material and oils to create a brood cell at the bottom of the cavity. Cells are created by plastering the plant fragments and oil against the inner surfaces of the cavity and a cell partition is created with a small hole left in it to allow the female to insert resources and eventually oviposit through. After the cell walls are made, the female forages for pollen and nectar and stores a large amount of both within the cell. Once the cell has enough pollen and nectar to feed the offspring throughout its development, the female will oviposit in the cell and close the cell partition. [9] This cell construction process is repeated many times to fill the cavity with brood cells and once the last cell is complete, the female uses more plant material to create a plug in the cavity entrance. Once the nest is sealed, the female begins searching for another cavity to create a new nest in. [9] It takes two to four days for a female to build a single nest and the nesting period usually spans between May and October [8] but can occur all year in certain places with optimal climate conditions and high resource abundances year-round. [7]

Artificial trap nests have been used extensively to study the nesting behavior of C. analis as females are highly attracted to them. [5] Trap nests have also been used in agricultural systems to establish populations of C. analis which help increase plant pollination and fruit production. [3] [4]

Offspring development

After nests are complete, it takes around 46 days for offspring to start emerging as adults and after approximately 74 days, all offspring will have emerged. [11] As a haplodiploid organism, females can control the sex of their offspring. [11] Therefore, females will produce males in the outermost cells while females occur in the innermost cells resulting in males leaving the nest first. [8] [11]

Natural enemies

Kleptoparasites

Kleptoparasitism occurs when a female of another insect species infiltrates a C. analis nest and lays an egg in the outermost brood cell. The egg eventually hatches and the larva feeds on the stored pollen and nectar as well as the larva or egg within the cell. [12] Kleptoparasites of C. analis include Mesocheira bicolor, Coelioxys species, and Leucospis species. [3] [8]

Brood parasites

Centris analis females may infiltrate the nests created by other females and perform brood parasitism. [9] In brood parasitism, a female will remove the nest plug, enter the nest, open the first brood cell, and consume the egg within it. Following egg consumption, the female will oviposit in the cell and perform collecting trips to gather plant material and oils to close the cell and create a new nest plug. [9]

Importance

Agricultural use

Due to their preference for plants in the Malpighiaceae family, [5] C. analis populations have been introduced to acerola orchards in Brazil to help increase plant pollination and ultimately fruit production. [3] [4] Magalhães and Freitas [4] installed trap nests in an acerola orchard in Brazil and found that C. analis pollination supported a 286% increase in fruit productivity resulting in 1.8 more tons of fruit produced and an increase of $2,250USD in income. While C. analis can provide pollination services in acerola orchards, this species requires nectar as a larval and adult food source which are obtained from other plant species, and therefore, populations cannot be established without suitable nectar-producing plants. [3] [4]

Related Research Articles

Megachilidae cosmopolitan family of bees

Megachilidae is a cosmopolitan family of mostly solitary bees whose pollen-carrying structure is restricted to the ventral surface of the abdomen. Megachilid genera are most commonly known as mason bees and leafcutter bees, reflecting the materials from which they build their nest cells ; a few collect plant or animal hairs and fibers, and are called carder bees, while others use plant resins in nest construction and are correspondingly called resin bees. All species feed on nectar and pollen, but a few are kleptoparasites, feeding on pollen collected by other megachilid bees. Parasitic species do not possess scopae. The motion of Megachilidae in the reproductive structures of flowers is energetic and swimming-like; this agitation releases large amounts of pollen.

Mason bee Genus of insects

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Centridini Tribe of bees

The Centridini are a tribe of large apid bees, many of which possess adaptations for carrying floral oils rather than pollen or nectar. The floral oils are often gathered from plants of the family Malpighiaceae, though other plants may be visited. The oil-collecting species typically have "combs" composed of closely spaced, flattened, blunt bristles on the margins of the first tarsal segments of the front and middle legs; others may have velvety "pads" to absorb the oils. They also commonly gather plant resins for use in nest cell construction. They have a tiny pterostigma in the forewing, the female scopa is very bushy, and the first flagellomere of the antenna is often longer than the scape.

<i>Nomada</i> Genus of bees

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Leucospidae Group of wasps

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<i>Tetragonula carbonaria</i> Species of bee

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<i>Colletes hederae</i> Species of bee

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<i>Bombus fervidus</i> Species of bee

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<i>Eulaema meriana</i> Species of bee

Eulaema meriana is a large-bodied bee species in the tribe Euglossini, otherwise known as the orchid bees. The species is a solitary bee and is native to tropical Central and South America. The male collects fragrances from orchid flowers, which it stores in hollows in its hind legs. Orchids can be deceptive by mimicking the form of a female and her sex pheromone, thus luring male bees or wasps. Pollination will take place as the males attempt to mate with the labellum, or the tip petal of the flower. Male E. meriana are territorial and have a particular perch on a tree trunk where it displays to attract a female. After mating, the female builds a nest with urn-shaped cells made with mud, feces, and plant resin, and provisions these with nectar and pollen before laying an egg in each. These bees also have complex foraging and wing buzzing behaviors and are part of a mimicry complex.

<i>Ptilothrix</i> Genus of bees

Ptilothrix is a genus within the tribe Emphorini of the family Apidae. Bees of this genus can range from 7 to 15 millimeters. Ptilothrix species are solitary ground nesting bees. The genus has especially prominent hairs in the scopae of their hind legs, to help gather pollen to provision their nests. Ptilothrix specialize on certain families of plants for their pollen, including the families Malvaceae, Convolvulaceae, Onagraceae, Cactaceae, Pontederiaceae and Asteraceae. The genus is found in the new world, with species ranging from North to South America.

<i>Xylocopa nasalis</i> Species of bee

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<i>Euglossa cordata</i> Species of bee

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<i>Eufriesea surinamensis</i> Species of bee

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<i>Bombus pauloensis</i> Species of bee

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<i>Trigona fuscipennis</i> Species of bee

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<i>Bombus morio</i> Species of insect

Bombus morio is one of the few bumblebee species found in South America. These bees reside mainly in the forests of Brazil, nesting on the surface of the ground. They are one of the biggest species of bumblebee and are important pollinators. They are one of the few species of bees that exhibit buzz pollination to collect pollen from the flowers.

References

  1. "Centris analis Fabricius, 1804". Integrated Taxonomic Information System.
  2. 1 2 3 Antunes, P. R., F. J. Telles, M. A. Rodríguez-Gironés, and S. C. Augusto. 2021. How does the solitary bee Centris (Heterocentris) analis (Fabricius) find its nest? Ecological Entomology 46:1165–1176.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Oliveira, R., and C. Schlindwein. 2009. Searching for a manageable pollinator for acerola orchards: The solitary oil-collecting bee Centris analis (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Centridini). Journal of Economic Entomology 102:265–273.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Magalhães, C. B., and B. M. Freitas. 2013. Introducing nests of the oil-collecting bee Centris analis (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Centridini) for pollination of acerola (Malpighia emarginata) increases yield. Apidologie 44:234–239.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Rabelo, L. S., A. M. G. F. Vilhena, E. M. A. F. Bastos, and S. C. Augusto. 2012. Larval food sources of Centris (Heterocentris) analis (Fabricius, 1804) (Hymenoptera: Apidae), an oil-collecting bee. Journal of Natural History 46:1129–1140.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Frankie, G. W., S. B. Vinson, L. E. Newstrom, and J. F. Barthell. 1988. Nest site and habitat preferences of Centris bees in the Costa Rican dry forest. Biotropica 20:301–310.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 da Silva, C. I., C. M. Hirotsu, A. J. de Suza Pacheco Filho, E. P. Queiroz, and C. A. Garófalo. 2017. Is the maximum reproductive rate of Centris analis (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Centridini) associated with floral resource availability? Arthropod-Plant Interactions 11:389–402.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Lourenço, D. de V., L. P. da Silva, H. M. Meneses, and B. M. Freitas. 2019. Nesting and reproductive habits of the solitary bee Centris analis in trap nests under a tropical climate. Revista Ciencia Agronomica 50:468–475.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Vieira De Jesus, B. M., and C. A. Garofalo. 2000. Nesting behaviour of Centris (Heterocentris) analis (Fabricius) in Southeastern Brazil (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Centridini). Apidologie 31:503–515.
  10. Martins, C. F., R. P. Ferreira, and L. T. Carneiro. 2012. Influence of the orientation of nest entrance, shading, and substrate on sampling trap-nesting bees and wasps. Neotropical Entomology 41:105–111.
  11. 1 2 3 Moure-Oliveira, D., L. C. Rocha-Filho, M. J. Ferreira-Caliman, and C. A. Garófalo. 2017. Nesting dynamic and sex allocation of the oil-collecting bee Centris (Heterocentris) analis (Fabricius, 1804) (Apidae: Centridini). Journal of Natural History 51:1151–1168.
  12. Parizotto, D. R. 2019. Natural enemies of the oil-collecting bee Centris analis (Fabricius, 1804) with notes on the behavior of the cleptoparasite Coelioxys nigrofimbriata Cockerell, 1919 (Hymenoptera, Apidae). Journal of Hymenoptera Research 16:1–16.

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