Fauna associated with the nests of the carpenter bees Xylocopa spp. (Hymenoptera: Anthophoridae)

Abstract

The carpenter bees are one of the most com­mon groups of Hymenoptera in the tropics. Their interest miles biologically on their se­misocial behavior and economically in the pollination of the yellow passion fruit and the damage of wood where they nest. An as­pect that is important for the understanding of their biology is the fauna associated with their nests. During the study, several observations and collections were made on the tropical for­est in the middle zone of the valley of the Cauca river, with an altitude between 916-1,000 masl, in the north of the Departamento del Valle, Colombia; and in the riverside forest of the river Güejar, with altitude 580 masl, in the Macarena National Park in Meta. In the nests of Xylocopa (Megaxylocopa) frontalis (Oli­vier) and Xylocopa (Neoxylocopa) spp. in wood and trunks of dead Crees, several associ­ated arthropods were found: Chaetodactilidae mites; Asilidae flies; Cissites maculata (Swe­derus) (Coleoptera: Meloidae); Leucospis sp. (Hymenoptera: Leucospidae); Coelopencyrtus sp. (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae); Tnbolium sp. (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) and several types of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Also, birds were found with suggested mutualisms like Picumnus granadensis(Picidae) and predatory «oropéndolas» Moluthrus bonariensis (Icteridae). The nests of the carpenter bees are complex micro ecosystems with their own as­sociated fauna. Predatory, parasitic, opportu­nistic, and occasional visitors forms might present adapted dynamics to the biology of disease bees.