First record of the stingless bee Lestrimelitta rufa (Friese) (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Meliponini) in NE Brazil and its cleptobiotic behavior

Abstract

The aim of this study was to expand occurrence records of Lestrimelitta rufa (Friese, 1903) to the Brazilian Northeast and to document the cleptobiotic behavior of this robber species in colonies of Melipona quinquefasciata Lepeletier, 1836. Two attacks were carried out in a meliponary in the county of Barbalha (Ceará, Brazil), where pot and larval food were sacked. Even with direct confrontation between invading and inquiline bees, there was a total loss of one of the attacked nests because robber workers remained insistently in search of resources of these nests during the attacks.

Keywords

• Robber bee
• Melipona quinquefasciata
• ethology
• inquiline bee