Foraging Behavior of Competing Africanized Honeybees and Stingless Bees
Foraging Behavior of Competing Africanized Honeybees and Stingless Bees
复制标题
竞争性非洲化蜜蜂和无刺蜂的觅食行为
作者：
D. Roubik
非洲化蜜蜂在新热带地区的殖民成功和潜在影响取决于它们的觅食方式和竞争能力。研究人员进行了实验，将这种入侵物种的觅食策略与数量最多的竞争对手——高度群居的无刺蜜蜂进行了比较。在法属圭亚那一个无刺蜜蜂种群丰富的地区，非洲化蜜蜂在高“花蜜流”时期在蜂蜜水取食器上的数量明显多于无刺蜜蜂和黄蜂的组合。在实验的最后15分钟，当饵料没有补充到喂食器上时，非洲化的蜜蜂放弃了喂食器，但当地的觅食者继续到达。没有一只无刺蜜蜂，包括四只具有攻击性的特里戈纳蜜蜂，从几个（2到7个）非洲化蜜蜂群体的喂养者那里转移了它们。攻击喂食处非洲化蜜蜂的成本显然超过了大型、具有攻击性的三角蜜蜂和透明斑蜜蜂的收益。这些蜜蜂抛弃了没有攻击性的非洲蜜蜂造访过的喂食器。单一的、小型的非洲化蜂群被侵略性的觅食者淡色T. pallens和T. branneri所取代。在一个例子中，非洲化的蜜蜂几乎立即转向了植物资源，而T. williamana放弃了喂食者并没有随后转向天然食物来源。减少与非洲化蜜蜂的竞争互动是由T. clavipes和T. p. pallens的觅食者完成的，他们通过只访问两个来分隔四个喂食者，将其他的留给非洲化蜜蜂。种间位移从来不是绝对的；一些来自流离失所群体的觅食者总是去拜访喂食者。非洲化蜜蜂和富里波纳黄蜂在喂食器和花朵上均无攻击性觅食，但在喂食器上的非洲化蜜蜂在一个场合对富里波纳黄蜂和多线蜂表现出低水平的攻击性。与其他好斗的Trigona不同，T. clavipes有时并不好斗。branneri和非洲化的蜜蜂是最成功地取代其他物种的蜜蜂，它们的工蜂比其他蜜蜂的工蜂多。(1)与巢穴沟通食物来源的距离和方向的能力，(2)大的觅食者规模，(3)大的群体规模，这些综合优势使非洲化的蜜蜂群体在丰富紧凑的资源方面具有比无刺蜜蜂更强的竞争能力。
The colonizing success and potential influence of immigrant Africanized honeybees in the neotropics depends on their foraging style and competitive ability. Experiments were performed to compare the foraging tactics of this invading species to those of its most abundant competitors, highly social stingless bees of the genera Melipona and Trigona. In an area containing a rich assem- blage of stingless bees in French Guiana, Africanized honeybees were significantly more abundant on honey-water feeders during a high 'nectar flow" period than combined stingless bee and wasp species. During the last 15 min of the experiments, when bait was not replenished on feeders, Africanized honeybees abandoned the feeders but native foragers continued to arrive. None of the stingless bees, including four aggressive Trigona, displaced from the feeders the for- agers of several (two to seven) colonies of Africanized honeybees. The cost of attacking Africanized honeybees at feeders apparently exceeded the benefit for large, aggressive Trigona williana and T. hyalinata branneri. These bees abandoned feeders visited by nonaggressive Africanized honeybees. Single, small Africanized honeybee colonies were displaced from feeders by aggressive foragers of T. pallens pallens and T. h. branneri. In one instance Africanized honeybees shifted almost imme- diately to a floral resource, while abandonment of the feeders by T. williana was not followed by a shift to a natural food source. Reduction of competitive interaction with Africanized honeybees was accomplished by foragers of T. clavipes and T. p. pallens that partitioned four feeders by visiting only two, leaving the others to Africanized bees. Interspecific displacement was never absolute; a few foragers from a displaced colony always visited the feeders. Africanized honeybees and Melipona fulva foraged nonaggressively both at feeders and flowers, but Africanized bees at feeders exhibited low levels of aggression toward Melipona and polybiine wasps on one occasion. Unlike other aggressive Trigona, T. clavipes was at times unaggressive. Colonies of T. h. branneri and Africanized honeybees, the bees most successful in displacing other species from feeders, were comprised of many more workers than colonies of the other bees. The combined advantages of (1) the ability to communicate the distance and direction of a food source from the nest, (2) large forager size, and (3) large colony size provide Africanized honeybee colonies with a competitive ability superior to that of stingless bees at rich, compact resources.