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NEST SITE SELECTION BY BUMBLE BEES (HYMENOPTERA: APIDAE) IN SOUTHERN ALBERTA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 May 2012

K. W. Richards
K. W. Richards
Affiliation:
Research Station, Agriculture Canada, Lethbridge, Alberta T1J 4B1
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Abstract

The niche breadth and overlap in nesting preferences of 15 species of bumble bees were investigated in Alberta. Some of the factors that influence the distribution of nesting sites and abundance of species and permit the species to coexist in sympatry are discussed. Artificial domiciles were used as potential nesting sites. Some species were specialists in terms of nest site selection while others were generalists. The few natural nests found, the long periods spent by queens searching for nests, the high frequency of usurpation or direct interference and death of intruders, and the frequency of high niche overlap values between species are evidence that nesting sites are limited and are incompletely partitioned among the coexisting species. Usurpation also demonstrates the competition among individuals and species. Phenological differences in nest establishment influence the competition among the species. Camouflaging of tunnels presumably reduces the intensity of usurpation and protects queens and the brood from inclement weather and from social parasites (e.g., Psithyrus) and predators.

Type
Articles
Information
The Canadian Entomologist , Volume 110 , Issue 3 , 01 March 1978 , pp. 301 - 318
Copyright
Copyright © Entomological Society of Canada 1978

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