Biology of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Lasioglossum</Emphasis> (<Emphasis Type="Italic">L.</Emphasis>) <Emphasis Type="Italic">majus</Emphasis> (Hymenoptera: Halictidae), a largely solitary sweat bee with behavioural adaptations to communality |
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Authors: | Roberto Boesi Carlo Polidori Francesco Andrietti |
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Institution: | (1) Dipartimento di Biologia, Sezione di Zoologia e Citologia, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria, 26, 20133 Milan, Italy |
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Abstract: | Within the bee family Halictidae there have been three origins of sociality. Although detection of origins and reversal from
sociality requires phylogenetic studies, at a behavioural level a predisposition to sociality can be detected by analysis
of intra-specific interactions. We studied aspects of nesting biology and behavioural interactions in Lasioglossum (Lasioglossum) majus, a poorly known halictine inhabiting temperate regions of Europe, which is suspected to be solitary. Nests were found to
be largely used by one female, but some were shared by more than one individual. These few nests, whose entrances were very
close to each other, were found to be connected underground. A few individuals were observed to enter in a nest where a female
was waiting, behaving as a guard and allowing the incoming bee to enter the nest. By use of circle-tube experiments, the behavioural
repertoire exhibited by females during encounters was assessed. Levels of withdrawal and cooperative events were comparable
with those observed in other solitary nesting species, but aggressive events were very rare, as in several observed communal
species. We conclude that L. (L.) majus females, despite general solitary nesting, possess behavioural components enabling them to adopt, probably in high nest-density
areas, nest-sharing strategies. A similar kind of local social polymorphism has been observed in two other species of the
subgenus Lasioglossum, but these are the first data available on a European species and the first record of subterranean connections among nests
of halictid bees. |
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Keywords: | Lasioglossum (L ) majus Hymenoptera Nesting habits Solitary nesting Communal nesting Social evolution |
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