Parasitisation of leaf-cutter bees (Megachilidae: Apoidea) by Melittobia species
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33307/entomon.v40i2.69Keywords:
Melittobia hawaiiensis species group, Pollination, Parasitization, Megachile, trap-nests, Bee-hotelsAbstract
Megachilid bees play an important role in pollination of many domesticated and wild plant species. During our attempts to trap nest these bees in southern India, we observed a heavy parasitisation by a species of Melittobia (belonging to Melittobia hawaiiensis species group) (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae). Out of 173 megachilid cells collected from 29 nests belonging to four species, 148 cells were parasitized by Melittobia sp., with an average of 85.55 % parasitisation and not a single bee emerged from 55.17% of the nests. This is the first record of Melittobia hawaiiensis species group parasitizing Megachile spp. in India.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2015 ENTOMON

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.