Biological Studies of Two Indigenous Bumblebees, Bombus eximius Smith and B. sonani Frison (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Bombini), in Taiwan
Date Issued
2009
Date
2009
Author(s)
Chiang, Ching-Hao
Abstract
Two bumblebee species, Bombus eximius Smith and B. sonani (Frison) were reared artificially to investigate the characteristics of colony development under laboratory conditions in Taiwan. A total of 53 queens of B. eximius Smith and 37 of B. sonani (Frison) were collected from the fields during 2007 and 2008. B. eximius Smith has a longer period for colony initiation, immatural stages in each caste, and a larger colony size (63 – 271 workers) than B. sonani (Frison) (21 – 68 workers). Under the laboratory conditions, queen of B. eximius Smith laid 4 – 6 eggs in each eggcup, while B. sonani (Frison) laid 2 – 3 eggs. The queen production point (QP) of B. eximius Smith started before the switch point (SP), and the queen production eggs were laid in Phase 3. However, queen production eggs of B. sonani (Frison) were probably laid during the Phase 2 and Phase 3. It is found that B. eximius Smith has a longer period of colony development than B. sonani (Frison), and the main difference between the two species was the number of third worker brood during the Phase 3. In the field, the endemic species of B. sonani (Frison) is considered to adapt to the temperate climate, while B. eximius Smith is to subtropical climate in Taiwan. The colony development and seasonal occurrence of B. eximius Smith is expected to be from September/October to April or later, and B. sonani (Frison) is from April to August or later. The results showed no differences between the two species in the queen nesting rate, successful colonization rate, successful mating rate of laboratory-reared queens, and egg laying rate of laboratory-reared queens under the laboratory reared conditions. We strongly suggested that B. eximius Smith shares great merits in pollination programs of commercial utilization, while B. sonani (Frison) can only serve as a substitute species for pollinations in Taiwan.
Subjects
bumblebees
colony development
pollinator
switch point
competition point
queen production point
SDGs
Type
thesis
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