Free Access
| Issue |
Apidologie
Volume 28, Number 1, 1997
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|---|---|---|
| Page(s) | 11 - 16 | |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/apido:19970102 | |
Apidologie 28 (1997) 11-16
DOI: 10.1051/apido:19970102
Instituto de Ecología, Departamento de Ecología Evolutiva, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, AP 70-275 México City, DF 04510, Mexico
Key words: Africanized bee / Apis mellifera / Kallstroemia / pollination efficiency / Trigona / tropical dry forest
DOI: 10.1051/apido:19970102
Pollination efficiency of native and invading Africanized bees in the tropical dry forest annual plant, Kallstroemia grandiflora Torr ex Gray
M. Osorio-Beristain, C.A. Domínguez, L.E. Eguiarte and B. BenreyInstituto de Ecología, Departamento de Ecología Evolutiva, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, AP 70-275 México City, DF 04510, Mexico
Abstract - We compared the pollinator effectiveness of native and exotic bees on Kallstroemia grandiflora in a tropical dry forest in Mexico. Although exotic Apis mellifera transfer 2.5 times less pollen grains on a per visit basis, they visited the flowers 2.65 times more frequently than the native bee Trigona nigra. Thus, when all measures of pollinator effectiveness are combined, exotic bees appear to be as efficient pollinators as native bees.
Key words: Africanized bee / Apis mellifera / Kallstroemia / pollination efficiency / Trigona / tropical dry forest