FLOATING AND FIDELITY IN NEST VISITATION BY CRAWFORDAPIS-LUCTUOSA (HYMENOPTERA, COLLETIDAE)

We studied nest visitation behavior of the ground-nesting bee Crawford apis luctuosa (Colletidae) at the Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve, Pu ntarenas Province, Costa Pica. Some females entered many nests, while others consistently entered only one nest. Multiple nest entry was exh ibited by bees we called floaters, and those bees that consistently en ter ed only one nest were provisioning bees. Provisioning bees abandon ed their old nests after provisioning periods and became nonprovisioni ng bees that floated over the nesting area. Floating behavior was a ne st-searching behavior typified by oscillating flights just above the g round (<15 cm). Floaters investigated available nests and were not obs erved to interact aggressively with nest owners. Upon establishing a n ew nest, floaters became provisioning bees.