| This study demonstrates that stingless bees (Apidae, Hymenoptera) amount to approximately 70% of all bees foraging on flowers in the Brazilian Tropical Atlantic Rainforest. They also are the unique bee group concentrated in the upper stratum. It is hypothesized that this vertical distribution is a result of an uneven distribution of preferred floral resources within the forest strata. In the upper stratum, most of the trees that are highly visited by stingless bees produce small, inconspicuous, generalized flowers, clustered in dense inflorescences (mass flowering). These trees represent only 15% of the total melittophilous flora in the study area (96 plant species). In contrast, they attracted all 17 stingless bee species and more than 70% of all... |
