Floral visitors of the muricizeiro Byrsonima verbascifolia (L.) rich in the Atlantic forest of northeast Brazil
1 Graduated in Agroecology, Federal Institute of de Sergipe, Brazil.
2 Master in Environmental Technologies, Federal Institute of Alagoas, Brazil.
3 Graduated in Biological Sciences, Faculdade Única de Ipatinga, Brazil.
4 Graduated in Economic Sciences, Federal University of Sergipe, Brazil.
5 Undergraduate student in Environmental Sanitation, Federal Institute of Sergipe, Brazil
6 PhD in Agriculture and Biodiversity, Federal Institute of Sergipe, Brazil.
Research Article
International Journal of Scholarly Research in Medicine and Dentistry, 2023, 02(02), 052–057.
Article DOI: 10.56781/ijsrms.2023.2.2.0063
Publication history:
Received on 29 April 2023; revised on 14 June 2023; accepted on 16 June 2023
Abstract:
The muric tree (Byrsonima verbascifolia (L.) Rich) is a native fruit plant used by humans for various purposes, from edible fruits to the medicinal uses of its leaves, bark, and fruits. Bees are the main pollinators of wild and cultivated plants, and without pollination, there is no formation of fruits and seeds, so floral visitors perform ecosystem services in exchange for pollen, nectar, and oil. Muricizeiro offers pollen and oils to its floral visitors, which attracts several species of native bees to its inflorescences, mainly Centris and Epicharis bees, specialists in oil collection. Thus, the presence of muric trees close to the planting area can contribute to the pollination of the cultivated plants. The objective of this study was to survey floral visitors to muricizeiro in São Cristóvão. The work was carried out in the Emília Maria settlement in São Cristóvão, Sergipe, where the floral visiting bees of muricizeiro were captured with an entomological net, for ten days, in the morning and afternoon. Twelve bee species belonging to the Apidae and Halictidae families were collected, with the most abundant species being Euglossa chalybeata (38.41%) and Eulaema nigrita (25.42%). The presence of Eulaema nigrita is related to environmental changes during the implementation of agriculture. The specimens were deposited in the entomological collection of the IFS/Campus São Cristóvão.
Keywords:
Murici; Pollination; Solitary bee; Native bee; Ecological function
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Copyright © 2023 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article. This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Liscense 4.0