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Competition, Foraging Energetics, and the Cost of Sociality in Three Species of Bees
Author(s) -
Schaffer William M.,
Jensen Deborah B.,
Hobbs Donna E.,
Gurevitch Jessica,
Todd James R.,
Schaffer M. Valentine
Publication year - 1979
Publication title -
ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.144
H-Index - 294
eISSN - 1939-9170
pISSN - 0012-9658
DOI - 10.2307/1936866
Subject(s) - foraging , forage , biology , sociality , ecology , competition (biology) , nectar , pollen
Competition among three species of bees (Apis mellifera, Bombus sonorus, and Xylocopa arizonensis) visiting Agave schottii was studied. Honeybees were found to predominate in the most productive habitats, Xylocopa in the least; Bombus as most abundant in patches of intermediate quality. It is suggested that these observations are consistent with a simple graphical model relating the standing crop of available nectar to foraging energetics and the additional costs of colonial life (cost of sociality). Temporal variations in foraging behavior were also observed, with Apis again preferring to forage at those times of day (early morning and late afernoon) when resources were most abundant. Bombus was less crepuscular than Apis, and carpenter bees foraged without obvious regard to variation in standing crop. Several factors which may account for this pattern are discussed.