Sympatric cleptobiotic stingless bees have species-specific cuticular profiles that resemble their hosts.

ABSTRACT: Stingless bees are the largest group of eusocial pollinators with diverse natural histories, including obligate cleptobionts (genus Lestrimelitta) that completely abandoned flower visitation to rely on other stingless bees for food and nest materials. Species of Lestrimeliita are thought to specialize upon different host species, and deception through chemical similarity has been proposed as a mechanism to explain this phenomenon. In the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, Scaptotrigona pectoralis is a species chemically distinct from, and not preferred as a host by, locally widespread Lestrimeliita niitkib; witnessing attacks on S. pectoralis colonies offered the opportunity to test the sensory deception hypothesis to cletoparasitism. Analysis of cuticular profiles revealed that the Lestrimelitt

SUBMITTER: Vazquez M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8850540 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature