Abstract

Tropical forests encompass a high diversity of plant species that depend on several pollinator bees, such as Melipona mondury. In the present study, we identified the pollen types in samples of honey, pollen (nest pots) and pollen baskets of M. mondury workers from a meliponary located in the Atlantic Forest of the state of Bahia, north-eastern Brazil. Samples of flowering plants were also collected monthly nearby the meliponary and from trails along the fragment borders. The botanic material was identified and stored as herbarium collections. The samples of honey and pollen from colonies of M. mondury were collected and prepared using the acetolysis method for palynological studies. Using the botanical inventory around the meliponary, palynological slides were prepared and pollen characterised from 43 genera and 46 species within 24 plant families. Asteraceae (23%), Fabaceae (14%), Anacardiaceae (5%), Myrtaceae (5%), and Melastomataceae (4%) were the most common and diverse families around the meliponary. A total of 44 and 54 pollen morphotypes were found in honey and pollen samples, respectively, comprising several plant families, particularly Myrtaceae (15%) and Melastomataceae (10%). The pollen baskets of workers contained 35 pollen morphotypes, with a predominance of Fabaceae-Mimosoideae (16%), Melastomataceae (13%), Sapindaceae (13%), Myrtaceae (10%) and Solanaceae (10%). The flora of the study area proved to be highly diverse and M. mondury utilises a wide variety of plants, albeit with some differences. The conservation of the Atlantic Forest fragments is essential to the maintenance of pollinators such as M. mondury to assure the functionality of local ecosystems.

摘要

热带森林包含高度多样化的植物物种，这些植物物种依赖于几种传粉蜜蜂，例如Melipona mondury。在本研究中，我们确定了来自位于巴西东北部巴伊亚州大西洋森林的 meliponary的M. mondury工人的蜂蜜、花粉（巢盆）和花粉篮样本中的花粉类型。开花植物的样本也每月在 meliponary 附近和沿着碎片边界的小径收集。植物材料被鉴定并储存为植物标本馆藏品。来自M. mondury菌落的蜂蜜和花粉样品使用用于孢粉学研究的乙酰解法收集和制备。利用 meliponary 周围的植物库存，制备了孢粉学载玻片，并对 24 个植物科的 43 个属和 46 个物种的花粉进行了表征。菊科 (23%)、豆科 (14%)、漆树科 (5%)、桃金娘科 (5%) 和野牡丹科 (4%) 是菊科植物周围最常见和最多样化的科。在蜂蜜和花粉样本中分别发现了 44 种和 54 种花粉形态类型，包括几个植物科，特别是桃金娘科 (15%) 和野牡丹科 (10%)。工蚁的花粉篮包含 35 种花粉形态类型，其中以豆科含羞草科 (16%)、野牡丹科 (13%)、无患子科 (13%)、桃金娘科 (10%) 和茄科 (10%) 为主。研究区的植物群被证明是高度多样化的M. mondury使用了多种植物，尽管有一些差异。保护大西洋森林碎片对于维持M. mondury等传粉者以确保当地生态系统的功能至关重要。