Substituição de rainhas em colônias de plebeia catamarcensis (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Meliponina), e a freqüência de castas nos favos emergentes

Abstract

The process of substitution of queen for Plebeia catamarcensis involves one strong attractiveness of the queen just emerged, and specify reactions of the workers, who if alternate between attacks and court the queen, the workers had still presented behaviors related to the construction and oviposition of cells in the absence of the queen. Despite this species having constructed two royal cell, all (36) normal or dwarfed virgin queens, who had emerged had happened of common cells. Although it has a regular production of queens, the colony alone accepted queens after virgin 26º day of orphaned. The tax of emergency of Rv was bigger in the months most cold (April the September) of that in the months hottest (October the March), already the workers and the males had presented with constant emergencies during the year. The frequency of emergency of Rv was around 0 and 4,64%, of the workers between 68,48% and 99,26%, and for the males were between 0,74% and 30,04%. The frequency of emergency of caste of the queens just fertilized it was enters 90,54% the 100%, 0% and 0% 14.96%, for the workers, males and Rv respectively. It was possible also to evaluate time of oviposição of queens and workers, time of life cycle, minimum age to beginning of the position, as also give metric of some structures of chaste after the its birth to its differentiation.