A

 

Document Type

Article

Journal/Book Title/Conference

Search Agriculture

Volume

1

Publication Date

1-1-1980

First Page

1

Last Page

20

Abstract

Species of Agapostemon are among the largest and most beautiful sweat bees (Halictinae) in North America. The head and thorax are brilliant green or blue and the apparent abdomen (metasoma or gaster) is similarly colored or variously banded with black, white, yellow, or amber, depending on the species. Despite their abundance and attractive appearance, their biology has not been extensively studied. Roberts ( 1969, 1973) studied the nesting behavior of 3 species in observation nests in a flight room and summarized the sparse reports of nesting under natural conditions, and Eickwort and Eickwort ( 1969) studied an aggregation of Agapostemon nasutus in Costa Rica. These studies have indicated that some species are typically communal, exhibiting a type of presocial behavior in which multiple females share a burrow, all lay eggs, and all presumably make and provision their own cells. Despite the importance of such behavior for theories of the origin of true social (=eusocial) behavior, this is the first study of a communal bee species that includes the use of individually marked nestmates, thus allowing observations on sharing of tasks in a nest and on degree to which nestmates are related.

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