温室で飼養したブラジル産ハリナシバチの1種,Nannotrigona testaceicornisにおける花選択性と恒久訪花性

Flower-visiting behavior of a Brazilian stingless bee, Nannotrigona testaceicornis studied experimentally in a greenhouse showed its typical generalist tendency at the colony level, visiting 15 out of 25 species of offered flowers. At the individual level, however, most foragers tended to visit a limited number of flower species continuously, even though other flowering plants were available. Such constancy was maintained for successive trips within a day (almost 80% in all marked bees), but was less among days. Switching was induced by the flower dearth of the so far utilized plants and casual exploitation of new plants by foragers.