Ecogeographical patterns in the incidence of brood parasitism in bees |
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| Authors: | THEODORA PETANIDOU WILLEM N ELLIS ALBERTINE C ELLIS-ADAM |
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| Institution: | Department of Ecology, School of Biology, U.P.B. 119, Aristotle University, 54006 Thessaloniki, Greece;Institute for Systematics and Population Biology, Department of Entomology, University of Amsterdam, Plantage Middenlaan 64, 1018 DH Amsterdam;Hugo de Vries Laboratory, University of Amsterdam, Kruislaan 318, 1098 SM Amsterdam, The Netherlands |
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| Abstract: | The percentage of cleptoparasitic species in a fauna of Apoidea decreases from 25–30% at high latitudes to 10–15% in the subtropics. We argue that this pattern should not be explained by an allegedly stronger seasonality at higher latitudes (that would enable parasites to better synchronize with their hosts), but rather by the unpredictability of the climate, and concomitantly host phenology and population size, in (sub)arid climates. |
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| Keywords: | Apoidea cleptoparasitism arid semiarid ecosystems mediterranean ecology |
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