G. it. Ent., 12 (54): 47-53
December 2007
Biologia di Xylocopa (Xylocopa) violacea (Linneo, 1758)
(Hymenoptera: Apidae):
foraggiamento su Capparis spinosa L. (Capparaceae)
di
SALVATORE VICIDOMINI
Abstract - Biology of Xylocopa (Xylocopa) violacea (Linnaeus, 1758) (Hymenoptera: Apidae): foraging behaviour on Capparis spinosa L. (Capparaceae) - To report on the foraging behaviour of Xylocopa violacea (L.) (Apidae: Xylocopini) on Capparis spinosa L. (Capparaceae) is the aim of this paper. Main results are as follows: a) females only visit C. spinosa; b) the visit period is June-July; c) foraging mainly occurs between late afternoon and dusk (17:30-20:00); d) X. violacea shows 4 different foraging tactics owing to both the type of resource collected (pollen and/or nectar) and flower turgidity; e) X. violacea females spend 3.99 s/flower (4.37 s/flower for nectar collection; 2.29 for pollen; 6.94 for nectar + pollen), visit 6.55 flowers/min and spend 26.13 s/min on flowers (43.5%) and 33.87 s/min (56.5%) in flight between a flower and the next one; f) it is possible that 35-40 s is the maximum time that a X. violacea female can spend in flight per one minute of foraging activity, beyond this, tissue reserves may begin to decrease.
