Solitary Bees Conservation, Rearing and Management for Pollination FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF CEARA SOLITARY BEES CONSERVATION, REARING AND MANAGEMENT FOR POLLINATION A contribution to the International Workshop on Solitary Bees and Their Role in Pollination, held in Beberibe, Ceará, Brazil, in April 2004 Edited by Breno M. Freitas and Júlio Otávio P. Pereira Fortaleza, CE Brazil 2004 Solitary Bees – Conservation, Rearing and Management for Pollination © 2004 Copyright by Breno Magalhães Freitas and Júlio Otávio Portela Pereira (Orgs.) Universidade Federal do Ceará Departamento de Zootecnia – CCA C. P. 12168, Campus do Pici – CEP: 60.021-970 Fortaleza – CE, Brazil – Phone: +55 (85) 288.9697 www.abelhas.ufc.br – E-mail: [email protected] Printed in Brazil Cover: Xylocopa sp. visiting a flower of Passiflora sp. Photo by Breno M. Freitas Book formatting: Marcelo Casimiro Cavalcante F862s Freitas, Breno Magalhães Solitary Bees: conservation, rearing and management for pollination. / Breno Magalhães Freitas. Fortaleza: Imprensa Universitária, 2004. 285p.: il. 1. Solitary Bees – pollination. 2. Polinators – conserva- tion and management. 3. Agriculture I. Pereira Júlio Otávio Portela (ed.) II. Título. CDD 683.12 ISBN 85-7485-049-7 Workshop promoters Federal University of Ceara – UFC Ministry of Environment – MMA Brazilian Pollinators Initiative – BPI Workshop organizer UFC Bee Research Group Workshop sponsors Ministry of Environment – MMA Ministry of Science and Technology – MCT Federal University of Ceara – UFC Brazilian Council for Scientific and Technological Development – CNPq Committee for Postgraduate Courses in Higher Education – CAPES Development Bank for the NE Brazil – BNB Brazilian Service to Support Micro and Small Business – SEBRAE Institute Center for Technological Teaching – CENTEC Tourism Secretary of the State of Ceara – SETUR Municipal City Hall of Beberibe – PMB DEDICATION This book is dedicated to the fiftieth anniversary of foundation of the Federal University of Ceara (1954 - 2004) PREFACE This book was prepared as a contribution of scientists from all around the world, experts on solitary bees, to the International Workshop on Solitary Bees and their Role in Pollination, which was held in Beberibe, state of Ceara, Brazil, from 26 to 29 April, 2004. The book and the workshop are initiatives of the Brazilian Pollinator Initiative, Ministry of Environment and celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of foundation of the Federal University of Ceara. The main objective of this book is to bring together updated knowledge on solitary bees, especially their use for crop pollination. Subjects such as rearing, building-up population techniques, standardized methodologies, losses of species diversity, population decline & management practices, assessment of the economic value of their pollination services and the economic impact of the decline of pollination services are covered in the six sessions and 25 chapters in which the book is arranged. Session I “The Pollinator Initiatives” comprises 6 chapters and covers the International Pollinator Initiative (Chapter 1) coordinated by FAO, as well as the five regional initiatives underway in Brazil (Chapter 2), EUA (Chapter 3), Europe (Chapter 4), SE Asia (Chapter 5) and Africa (Chapter 6). These initiatives deal with pollinators in general, but bees constitute the most important group of pollinators and 85 % of the 20,000 known species of bees are solitary. Despite the great number of solitary bees, little is known about most species and their population status. Session II “Monitoring and Population Dynamics of Solitary Bees” discusses the need of monitoring natural populations and standardize methodologies (Chapter 7), revises trap-nest techniques for monitoring solitary bees and lists species caught in trap nests in Brazil (Chapter 8). This session also discusses population dynamics and genetics of solitary bees through two elegant studies carried out in temperate (Chapter 9) and tropical climates (Chapter 10). Although reckon as important pollinators, many species of solitary bees are endangered and their economic value to natural and agricultural ecosystems is still little known. Session III “Conservation and Economic Valuation of Solitary Bee Pollination Services” presents experiences for restoring native bee pollinators (Chapter 11), discusses the dependence of pollination services on community composition (Chapter 12), the economic valuation of bee pollination services and its implications for farm managing and policy (Chapter 13) and uses the bumblebee rearing and commercializing industry to discuss the potential of managing other bee species for pollination (Chapter 14). A few species of solitary bees have been used for large-scale crop pollination. Session IV “Rearing and Managing Solitary Bees: Osmia and Megachile” shows how Osmia bees have been studied in their life cycle (Chapter 15) and reared for crop pollination (Chapter 16), and discusses the difficulties in identifying Megachile species (Chapter 17) and the valuable use of pollen analysis to monitor pollen sources of solitary bees (Chapter 18). Other promising solitary bee species for crop pollination are covered in Session V “Solitary Bees in Agriculture Systems: Centris and Xylocopa “. These two bee genus are being proposed for pollination of a variety of crops, such as cashew (Anacardium occidentale) and West Indian cherry (Malpighia emarginata) (Chapter 19), wild plant species just coming into agriculture like nance (Byrsonima crassifolia) and Peanut Butter Fruit (Bunchosia argentea) (Chapter 20), and greenhouse crops like tomatoes (Lycopersicum esculentum) (Chapter 21). Finally, the importance of solitary bees to the pollination of wild plants is exemplified in Session VI “Wild Pollination Systems Involving Solitary Bees” with a beautiful preliminary communication of ricochet pollination in the Cassiinae (Chapter 22), the discussion whether oligolectic bees are always the most effective pollinators (Chapter 23), their role on the reproductive biology of timber trees (Chapter 24) and a review on oil-collecting bees and their related plant species (Chapter 25). Breno M. Freitas and Júlio Otávio P. Pereira ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The editors thanks the contributors to this book for their time and knowledge put into each chapter. We are also thankful to sponsors which supported the International Workshop on Solitary Bees and Their Role in Pollination that motivated the conception of this book and for funding to allow its publication. We are grateful to the Bee Research Group of the Federal University of Ceara for the work and dedication its members put into the preparation of this book and we are particularly indebted to Mr. Marcelo Casimiro Cavalcante for his expertise in formatting the book. 12 Contents TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGES Session I. The Pollinator Initiatives 17 1 Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. “Conservation and Management of Pollinators for Sustainable Agriculture - The International Response” 19 2 Vera Lucia Imperatriz Fonseca and Braulio Ferreira Souza Dias “Brazilian Pollinators Initiative” 27 3 Michael Ruggiero, Stephen Buchmann and Laurie Adams. “The North American Pollinator Initiative” 35 4 Simon Potts (ed.). “European Pollinator Initiative (EPI): Assessing the Risks of Pollinator Loss” 43 5 Uma Partap. “An Overview of Pollinators Research and Development in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan Region” 57 6 Connal Eardley, Barbara Gemmill, Peter Kwapong and Wanja Kinuthia. “The African Pollinator Initiative” 67 Session II. Monitoring and Population Dynamics of Solitary Bees 71 7 Fernando A. Silveira. “Monitoring Pollinating Wild Bees” 73 8 Carlos Alberto Garófalo, Celso Feitosa Martins and Isabel Alves-dos-Santos. “The Brazilian Solitary Bee Species Caught in Trap Nests” 77 9 Claudia Mohra, Martin Fellendorf and Robert J. Paxton. “The Population Dynamics and Genetics of Solitary Bees: A European Case Study, Andrena vaga (Hymenoptera, Andrenidae)” 85 10 David W. Roubik. “Long-term Studies of Solitary Bees: What The Orchid Bees are Telling Us” 97 Session III. Conservation and Economic Valuation of Solitary Bee Pollination Services 105 11 Gordon W. Frankie and S. Bradleigh Vinson. “Restoring Native Bee Pollinators: A Case History in Costa Rica” 107 13 Contents 12 Claire Kremen. “Pollination Services and Community Composition: Does it Depend on Diversity, Abundance, Biomass, or Species Traits?” 115 13 Adam G. Drucker. “Economic Valuation of Bee Pollination Services: Implications for Farm Management and Policy” 125 14 Hayo H.W. Velthuis and Adriaan van Doorn. “The Breeding, Commercialization and Economic Value of Bumblebees” 135 Session IV. Rearing and Managing Solitary Bees: Osmia and Megachile 151 15 Jordi Bosch and William P. Kemp. “The Life Cycle of Osmia lignaria: Implications for Rearing Populations” 153 16 Antonio Felicioli, Miloje Krunic and Mauro Pinzauti. “Rearing and Using Osmia Bees for Crop Pollination: A Help from a Molecular Approach” 161 17 Anthony Raw. “Ambivalence Over Megachile” 175 18 Rogel Villanueva-Gutiérrez and David W. Roubik. “Pollen Sources of Long-Tongued Solitary Bees (Megachilidae) in the Biosphere Reserve of Quintana Roo, Mexico” 185 Session V. Solitary Bees in Agricultural Systems: Centris and Xylocopa 191 19 Breno M. Freitas and Julio Otávio P. Pereira. “Crop Consortium to Improve Pollination: Can West Indian Cherry (Malpighia emarginata) Attract Centris Bees to Pollinate Cashew (Anacardium occidentale)?” 193 20 Stephen L. Buchmann. “Aspects of Centridine Biology