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NEST DEFENCE BY HONEY-DAUBING IN THE BUMBLEBEE BOMBUS GRISEOCOLLIS DE GEER (HYMENOPTERA: APIDAE)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 May 2012

G.A. Fuller  and
R.C. Plowright
G.A. Fuller
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 1A1
R.C. Plowright
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 1A1
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Abstract

Workers of the bumblebee Bombus griseocollis were found to use honey-daubing as a method of defence against (mostly heterospecific) intruders. The distant taxonomic relatedness of this species to others that practise honey-daubing may imply that this defence has evolved independently at least twice in the genus Bombus.

Résumé

Des ouvrières du bourdon Bombus griseocollis ont été observées en train d’engluer des attaquants (surtout hétérospécifiques) avec du miel pour se défendre. La parenté éloignée de cette espèce avec les autres espèces qui manifestent ce comportement semble indiquer que ce moyen de défense aurait évolué indépendamment au moins deux fois dans le genre Bombus.

Type
Articles
Information
The Canadian Entomologist , Volume 118 , Issue 5 , May 1986 , pp. 479 - 480
Copyright
Copyright © Entomological Society of Canada 1986

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References

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