Radiofrequency identification (RFID) reveals long-distance flight and homing abilities of the stingless bee Melipona fasciculata

• DOI: 10.1007/s13592-019-00706-8
• Publication Date: 2019-12-20T12:02:56Z
• Authors: Patrícia Nunes-Silva; Luciano Costa; Alistair John Cam...; Helder Arruda; Felipe Andres Leo...; Juliana Stephanie...; Rafael Leandro Co...; Gustavo Pessin; Daniel Santiago P...; Paulo de Souza; Vera Lucia Impera...
• Keywords: RFID; 0106 biological sciences; [SDV]Life Sciences [q-bio]; stingless bee; homing; 15. Life on land; flight range; Zoology; Meliponini; 01 natural sciences

AbstractDetermining bee flight capacity is crucial for developing management strategies for bee conservation and/or crop pollination and purposes. In this study, we determined the flight distance of the stingless beeMelipona fasciculatausing the radiofrequency identification (RFID) technology. For this, we conducted two translocation experiments using workers equipped with RFID microsensors: (1) release of bees at seven distances between 100 and 3000 m from experimental colonies in Belém, Brazil, and (2) at six distances between 1500 and 10,000 m at Carajás National Forest Reserve. Return rates of workers were negatively correlated to release distance, with typical flight distances of 2 km, but a maximum homing distance of 10 km. Use of RFID tags revealed how past experiments may have greatly underestimated homing abilities of stingless bees.