Mating System and Sleeping Behaviour of the Male and Female Centris (Paracentris) burgdorfi Friese (Apidae, Centridini)

• Published in: Journal of insect behavior Vol. 30; no. 1; pp. 103 - 118
• Main Authors: O. Sabino, William, da Silva, Cláudia Inês, Alves-dos-Santos, Isabel
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 2017; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Agriculture; Animal behavior; Animal Ecology; Animal reproduction; Apidae; Bees; Behavioral Sciences; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Breeding seasons; Centris; Entomology; Evolutionary Biology; Life Sciences; Nesting; Neurobiology; Sleep; Mating behaviour; sleeping aggregation; solitary bee; oil-collecting bee; sexual selection
• ISSN: 0892-7553; 1572-8889
• DOI: 10.1007/s10905-017-9600-x

We describe the mating behaviour of males of Centris ( Paracentris ) burgdorfi , a solitary, univoltine bee, with a wide distribution in Brazil. We also describe the unusual sleeping sites of males and females. The study was performed during two breeding seasons, in northeastern Brazil, where the species nests in aggregations in petrified dunes. Data on mating behaviour were collected through direct observations of the bees at the nesting-emergence site. Males compete intensely for virgin females in the morning, sometimes killing rivals. The high competition for females near the nesting site makes that the male has to take the female to another place to get genital contact. In the evening, males do not use plants to spend the night, instead they aggregate in sleeping clusters inside old burrows in the nesting-emergence area while females sleep in groups on plants that provide the floral oil used in nest construction.