Bee Arrival at Two Costa Rican Female Catasetum Orchid Inflorescences, and a Hypothesis on Euglossine Population Structure
- 1 March 1981
- Vol. 36 (2) , 177-183
- https://doi.org/10.2307/3544443
Abstract
Two 5-flowered inflorescences of C. maculatum produced 44 days apart, attracted at least 407 male Eulaema polychroma euglossine bees and 5 male E. cingulata and 2 E. meriana over 59 flower-days and 14 inflorescence-days in the early rainy season. Two bees arrived carrying pollinaria; they pollinated 3 flowers. Of the 144 bees marked at the 2nd flowering, 9 were marked at the 1st flowering 44 days earlier. Estimates of the size of male E. polychroma population generating these results range from 931-4208. The higher number is probably more reliable. The possibility that these males may be drawn from a large pool and the results of other euglossine bee studies in Costa Rica suggest that, especially in a highly seasonal habitat, the male euglossine bees may range very widely and find nectar, orchids and mates in 3 different habitats. Females may find their resources in a geographically more restricted area, and their habitat may intersect with those of the males only in courtship areas.This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: