Published April 19, 2023 | Version v1
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Melipona beecheii (Hymenoptera, Apidae) foragers deposit a chemical mark on food to attract conspecifics

  • 1. Grupo de Ecología de Artrópodos y Manejo de Plagas, El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, Tapachula, Mexico
  • 2. Universidad Autónoma de Chiapas, Tapachula, Mexico

Description

Stingless bees have a sophisticated system of chemical communication that helps conspecifics find food sources. In this study, we investigated whether Melipona beecheii foragers deposit a chemical mark on food to recruit conspecifics. Our results showed that foragers preferred to visit the feeders visited previously by conspecifics over clean feeders. We also found that foragers preferred visiting feeders baited with labial gland extracts over those baited with mandibular extracts or hexane. Labial gland extracts elicited higher forager antennal responses compared with those evoked by the mandibular gland extracts or hexane. Labial gland extracts and extracts from feeders visited by foragers contain a mixture of unsaturated hydrocarbons, followed by straight chain hydrocarbons and small quantities of esters. The main component is a mixture of alkene isomers C27:1.

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