Avaliação dos danos causados pelas abelhas arapuás em diferentes genótipos do BAG do bacurizeiro

Resumo

Arapuás are stingless bees that pollinate flowers of various species of native or cultivated plants, such as pumpkin, coffee, carrot, sunflower, orange, mango, strawberry, and bell pepper. They are also known as irapuás, dog bees, among several other names, which most often refer to the species Trigona spinipes (but not exclusively). Despite their importance in providing pollination services, these bees can damage stems, flowers, leaves, and/or fruits in different crops, facilitating the entry of disease-causing organisms, as well as impairing plant development and/or reducing the quantity and commercial value of the fruits produced. Harvesters and growers of bacuri, Platonia insignis Mart. (Clusiaceae), have reported the simultaneous occurrence of damage to leaves, stems, flowers, and fruits and the visitation of arapuá bees. However, it is necessary to investigate the cause-and-effect relationship. Aiming to relate the presence of arapuá bees With the occurrence of damage to the bacurizeiro, monitoring was carried out at the bacurizeiro BAG of Embrapa Meio-Norte, in seedling matrices, in the morning, over 8 days and at four times (8 a.m., 9 a.m., 10 a.m., and 11 a.m.), in order to visually observe the presence or absence of arapuás at different phenophases of the bacurizeiro and on different organs such as stem, leaves, flowers, and fruits. The presence of arapuás was verified by collecting resin from the stems of 28 accessions, about 20% of the plants present in the area, which showed mechanical damage or natural exudation. Arapuá bees were observed every day of monitoring at accessions L6P2 (M13-CHA) and L6P9 (M11PP5); in only one accession across 7 days; in three accessions over 6 days; for 5 days, they were observed in three more accessions; for 4 days, they were seen in three accessions; for 3 days, in another three accessions; in four accessions over 2 days; and in only 1 day, they were observed in nine accessions, all present on the stem. It is concluded that the presence of damag Mechanical damage caused mainly by handling tools, as well as natural exudation, can attract arapuás to the wound in search of resine