Anthidium maculosum: Difference between revisions
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==Diet== |
==Diet== |
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The females of A. maculosum collect pollen and nectar from [[Monarda pectinata]], a flowering mint plant. Therefore, males aggregate and hold territory around these resources to ensure they copulate. They also land on [[Monarda austromontana]].<ref name="Wandering">Oliveira, Reisla, Airton Torres Carvalho, and Clemens Schlindwein. "Territorial or wandering: how males of Protodiscelis palpalis (Colletidae, Paracolletinae) behave in searching for mates." Apidologie 43.6 (2012): 674-684.</ref> |
The females of A. maculosum collect pollen and nectar from [[Monarda pectinata]], a flowering mint plant. Therefore, males aggregate and hold territory around these resources to ensure they copulate. They also land on [[Monarda austromontana]].<ref name="Wandering">Oliveira, Reisla, Airton Torres Carvalho, and Clemens Schlindwein. "Territorial or wandering: how males of Protodiscelis palpalis (Colletidae, Paracolletinae) behave in searching for mates." Apidologie 43.6 (2012): 674-684.</ref> |
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==Interspecies Interaction== |
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''A. maculosum'' is a carder bee that competes with other carpenter bees, such as ''Xylocopa californica arizonensis'' for trap-nest sites.<ref>Smith, Walter E., and Walter G. Whitford. "Factors affecting the nesting success of the large carpenter bee, Xylocopa californica arizonensis." Environmental Entomology 7.4 (1978): 614-616.</ref> |
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==Synonyms== |
==Synonyms== |
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Revision as of 02:18, 16 October 2015
| Anthidium maculosum | |
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| Species: | A. maculosum
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| Anthidium maculosum Cresson, 1878
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Anthidium maculosum is a species of bee in the family Megachilidae, the leaf-cutter, carder, or mason bees.[1][2] It is a solitary bee where the males are territorial and the females take part in polyandry.[3] A. maculosum differs from most other male species because the males are significantly larger than females. Also subordinate males that act as satellites are also smaller than territory owning males. [4]
Taxonomy and Phylogeny
A. maculosum belongs to the subfamily Megachilinae within the hymenopeteran family Megachilidae. Megachilinae is divided into 5 tribes: Anthidiini, Dioxyini, Lithurgini, Megachilini, and Osmiini. The genus Anthidium, composed of carder bees, has 92 species of bees. Anthidium is part of the tribe Anthidiini, which is one of the most diverse genera of the family Megachilidae. [5]
Distribution
The distribution of A. maculosum ranges in Middle America and North America. These bees are most commonly found in Mexico and the United States. [6]
Description and Identification
The middle tibia of A. maculosum shows apical spines. [7] Body sizes of these bees seem to correlate with head-widths. Therefore, a bigger head is correlated with a bigger body size. The body sizes of territorial and non-territorial bees, are different. Territorial males have larger body sizes and thus correlate with holding territory, while the non-territorial bees are smaller. This can be indicative of them being subordinate. Also males are normally larger than females.[8]
A. maculosum nests are built in holes excavated in wood. [9]
Colony Cycle
Female solitary bees lay their eggs continuously during the breeding season. They deposit their eggs right before they close their brood cells.[10] These carder bees are diurnal and are active only when the temperatures are above freezing and most active when there are plenty of resources such as flowers where they can extract pollen and nectar.[11]
Resource Defense
A. maculosum uses the system of polygyny as their resource defense system. Males of this species of bee fight against each other for control of rich clumps of flowering mint, Monarda pectinata. It is on this species of plant that females normally aggregate to collect pollen and nectar for their nests. The mint grows in patches making it easy for individual male bees to defend their own patch. Normally a single highly territorial male will defend his own patch, but if the patch is bigger, a couple male bees that defend a certain section of the plant subdivide it. [9] They also change the location and size of the territory they guard depending on the availability of pollen and nectar, as well as the level of competition. If males can predict which clumps of resources are more productive, they will patrol these areas more. [8]
Territorial Behavior
These males drive out all flower-visiting insects except for conspecific females. However, if the female refuses to copulate with the male, they too will be driven out. A. maculosum can expect an intruder every 3-4 minutes therefore they are constantly defending their territories but not to an impossible level. They spend most of their day flying around their territory making sure it is not being invaded by intruders. If they come across an intruder, both insects will clash and occasionally grapple. [9]
Reproductive Behavior
Non-territorial Males
There are two types of non-territorial males in A. maculosum. One type is a satellite male that stays in one corner of the territory and don’t patrol as widely as the resident owner. The second type is a wandering intruder that visits certain territories repeatedly. For example, a wandering intruder has been seen to go between two different sites 18 times within an hour. These non-territorial males flee the scene immediately after being approached by the resident bee. If caught by the resident male while attempting to copulate, the non-territorial male and the female he is trying to reproduce with will be violently struck by the resident bee that the pair separates. In other cases, the resident male will pull the non-territorial male off the female and continue to copulate with the free female. It seems that in general, non-territorial males mate fewer times than territorial males. [9]
Mating Behavior
Because A. maculosum is a solitary bee, males do not go and look for emerging females. Also because females are separated widely, this makes it more difficult for males to find emerging females. He lets them come to him. [9] Sometimes, a male will emit a pheromone in order to attract a female to his flower or territory. [12]A male normally hovers his territory but when he detects a female, he will stop flying and hover. The male waits for a female A. maculosum to land on a flower and then he quickly charges at her. He grabs her and lands on her back. If he is successful in grabbing her, he will proceed to rub the female’s head and thorax with his fore- and midlegs. Next, he falls back on the female and pokes her with his genital claspers before starting copulation. [13]Copulation lasts for about 20-25 seconds, and then the female starts to fight back by moving and kicking. The pair then separates. [9]
Evolution of Multiple Mating in Females
A. maculosum females are known to take part in polyandrous behavior. Most females collect enough sperm after a single copulation, but take part in multiple copulations during their lifetime. On one hand, taking part in multiple matings takes time away from foraging. On the other hand, monogamy also expends time and energy trying to repel and avoid the male. Under certain conditions, however, it is advantageous for the female to be polyandrous. This is because the costs of monogamy outweigh the costs of polyandry. If mating only takes a short time, this can reduce the cost of multiple copulations. It is advantageous for the female to be polyandrous when she is trying to forage because males normally guard resource research sites, so females get access to these territories when she mates with these males. Also because males are larger than females, they are more successful in harassing females into mating with them as can been seen by the method of copulation. In other cases, in order for the female to extract the pollen or nectar she has to land on the flower and crawl into the corolla and in this position she is vulnerable to attack by the male. [8]
Foraging Behavior
Females forage in multiple territories. While foraging males will try to mate with them, and females normally allow males to do this even though it may be at a cost because they normally get enough sperm after one mating. Multiple copulations may be costly, but females allow for them because it takes more time to resist than to let it happen. Time will be wasted trying to look for unguarded flowers that are of low quality and are rare. This extra time acquired from submitting is used to forage for their brood provisions. Females normally forage in areas that are held by males because of clumped resource distribution. It is hard for a female to find the resources she needs otherwise. The food the female is gathering is for her progeny. [9]
Diet
The females of A. maculosum collect pollen and nectar from Monarda pectinata, a flowering mint plant. Therefore, males aggregate and hold territory around these resources to ensure they copulate. They also land on Monarda austromontana.[14]
Interspecies Interaction
A. maculosum is a carder bee that competes with other carpenter bees, such as Xylocopa californica arizonensis for trap-nest sites.[15]
Synonyms
Synonyms for this species include:[16]
- Anthidium maculatum_homonym Smith, 1854
- Anthidium lupinellum Cockerell, 1904
- Anthidium americanum Friese, 1911
- Anthidium uyacanum Cockerell, 1949
References
- ^ Griswold, T., and J. S. Ascher., 2005, Checklist of Apoidea of North America (including Central America and the Caribbean)
- ^ Catalogue of Life : 2009 Annual Checklist : Literature references
- ^ Ferreira, Amilton, et al. "Comparative anatomy of the male reproductive internal organs of 51 species of bees." Neotropical Entomology 33.5 (2004): 569-576.
- ^ Frohlich, Donald R., and Frank D. Parker. "Observations on the nest-building and reproductive behavior of a resin-gathering bee: Dianthidium ulkei (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae)." Annals of the Entomological Society of America 78.6 (1985): 804-810.
- ^ "Anthidium maculosumaccessdate=07 October 2015". Integrated Taxonomic Information System.
- ^ Moure's Bee Catalogue
- ^ Michener, Charles Duncan. The Bees of the World. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins UP, 2000. Print.
- ^ a b c Alcock, John, George C. Eickwort, and Kathleen R. Eickwort. "The reproductive behavior of Anthidium maculosum (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae) and the evolutionary significance of multiple copulations by females." Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 2.4 (1977): 385-396.
- ^ a b c d e f g Alcock, John. "Natural selection and the mating systems of solitary bees." American Scientist (1980): 146-153.
- ^ Lampert, Kathrin P., et al. "‘Late’male sperm precedence in polyandrous wool-carder bees and the evolution of male resource defence in Hymenoptera." Animal Behaviour 90 (2014): 211-217.
- ^ Griswold, Terry, Victor H. Gonzalez, and Harold Ikerd. "AnthWest, occurrence records for wool carder bees of the genus Anthidium (Hymenoptera, Megachilidae, Anthidiini) in the Western Hemisphere." ZooKeys 408 (2014): 31.
- ^ Oliveira, Reisla, and Clemens Schlindwein. "Experimental demonstration of alternative mating tactics of male Ptilothrix fructifera (Hymenoptera, Apidae)." Animal Behaviour 80.2 (2010): 241-247.
- ^ Ridley, M. "The control and frequency of mating in insects." Functional Ecology (1990): 75-84.
- ^ Oliveira, Reisla, Airton Torres Carvalho, and Clemens Schlindwein. "Territorial or wandering: how males of Protodiscelis palpalis (Colletidae, Paracolletinae) behave in searching for mates." Apidologie 43.6 (2012): 674-684.
- ^ Smith, Walter E., and Walter G. Whitford. "Factors affecting the nesting success of the large carpenter bee, Xylocopa californica arizonensis." Environmental Entomology 7.4 (1978): 614-616.
- ^ Anthidium maculosum - - Discover Life
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