Stingless bees (Meliponini) construct their own species-specific nest entrance.
The size of this entrance is under conflicting selective pressures. Smaller
entrances are easier to defend; however, a larger entrance accommodates
heavier forager traffic. Using a comparative approach with 26 species of
stingless bees, we show that species with greater foraging traffic have
significantly larger entrances. Such a strong correlation between relative
entrance area and traffic across the different species strongly suggests a tradeoff between traffic and security. Additionally, we report on a significant trend
for higher forager traffic to be associated with more guards and for those
guards to be more aggressive. Finally, we discuss the nest entrance of
Partamona, known in Brazil as boca de sapo, or toad mouth, which has a wide
outer entrance but a narrow inner entrance. This extraordinary design allows
these bees to finesse the defensivity⁄traffic trade-off.
Stingless bees (Meliponini) construct their own species-specific nest entrance.The size of this entrance is under conflicting selective pressures. Smallerentrances are easier to defend; however, a larger entrance accommodatesheavier forager traffic. Using a comparative approach with 26 species ofstingless bees, we show that species with greater foraging traffic havesignificantly larger entrances. Such a strong correlation between relativeentrance area and traffic across the different species strongly suggests a tradeoff between traffic and security. Additionally, we report on a significant trendfor higher forager traffic to be associated with more guards and for thoseguards to be more aggressive. Finally, we discuss the nest entrance ofPartamona, known in Brazil as boca de sapo, or toad mouth, which has a wideouter entrance but a narrow inner entrance. This extraordinary design allowsthese bees to finesse the defensivity⁄traffic trade-off.
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