Recruitment behavior in stingless bees, Melipona scutellaris and M-quadrifasciata. I. Foraging at food sources differing in direction and distance

The two stingless bee species Melipona scutellaris and M. quadrifasciata re cruit nestmates to a rich foraging site. We tested this with feeders lip to 140 m away from the hive. Foragers of M. scutellaris communicated directio n (up to 140 m) more accurately than distance (up to 30 m) whereas those of M. quadrifasciata communicated direction only up to 30 m and distance up t o 40 m. Our data indicate that in both species recruitment is divided into two temporal phases. Whereas in an initial phase alarmed nestmates search f or food at random, bees leaving the hive in the following phase are obvious ly provided with information about its specific location. As a consequence after 35 minutes (M. scutellaris) and 85 minutes (M. quadrifasciata), respe ctively, significantly more newcomers arrive at the feeder than at an ident ical control feeder. The differences found in the recruitment success of M. scutellaris and M. quadrifasciata are discussed in regard to the different demands of their natural habitats.