“Visitantes florais no margaridão (tithonia diversifolia) com ênfase em abelhas africanizadas e nativas”

Abstract

Bees are undoubtedly the most important pollinators for the reproduction of most angiosperms, either in natural ecosystems or in agricultural plantations. The frequent visit of the bees in the flowers is related to the dependence of the floral resources (nectar and pollen), from the larval phase until the adult phase, being the pollen the source protein and the nectar the energetic source. The objective of this experiment will be to identify floral visitors in daisy (Tithonia Dversifolia), with an emphasis on Africanized and native bees. This experiment will be conducted at the Center for the Conservation of Native Bees, Department of Animal Science, Federal Rural University of Pernambuco, Recife, PE, from August to September 2018. After the start of flowering, the frequency and type of collection (nectar and / or pollen) of the flower visitors, during the day, by counting in the first 10 min of each time, between 6.00 and 17.00, with four replications (four different days). A randomized experimental design with four replications will be used and the Tukey test at the 5% level and polynomial regression in time, using the Bioestat program, will be used. Africanized bees Apis mellifera and native bees were observed in daisy flowers, collecting nectar and pollen. The native bees observed were Melipona scutellaris, Magachile rotundata and Trigona spinipes. Different species of lepidoptera (butterflies) and dipterans (flies) also used daisy flowers as food resources. It was observed that the predominance of the Africanized bees in the flowers compared to the native ones. This species should be planted close to the meliponarios and apiaries, being an important source of food resources for the bees, in Recife, PE, especially after the rainy winter.