Nesting Biology of Megachile (Chrysosarus) jenseni (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae) in Two Contrasting Pampean Agroecosystems: A Potential Pollinator for Alfalfa?

Several crops depend on both managed and wild bees to produce fruits and/or seeds, and the efficiency of numerous wild bees is higher than that of some managed species. Therefore, knowing and understanding the required resources for wild bees could enabled the establishment of management practices to increase their populations. Here, we provide information about the nesting biology of Megachile (Chrysosarus) jenseni, a Faboideae-specialist bee species.

Comparative analysis of the processes involved in the loss of elaiophores in two species of the christianelloid clade (Malpighiaceae).

Alicia anisopetala and Callaeum psilophyllum are two closely related species that belong to the christianelloid clade of the family Malpighiaceae. Both species are pollinated by oil-collecting bees and exhibit variations at specimen and population level in the number of elaiophores per flower. These floral glands that secrete non-volatile oils constitute an ancestral trait for the family.

Colleters, osmophores, and nectaries in the species Ceropegia lenewtonii: a sapromyiophilous stapeliad (Asclepiadoideae, Apocynaceae).

Ceropegia lenewtonii (Plowes) Bruyns (=Huernia keniensis), currently belonging to the Huernia section of the genus Ceropegia, is a stapeliad species distributed in Africa and the Arabian Peninsula; but it is widely cultivated as ornamental in most parts of the world. This species of stapeliad presents "carrion flowers" associated with a sapromyophilous pollination syndrome since the flowers emit an unpleasant odor. In this work, we describe the floral morphology and anatomy of the calyx, corolla, and corona of this species based on bright-field and scanning electron microscope techniques.

Are the floral morphology and anatomy of Galphimia australis, an atypical neotropical Malpighiaceae, associated to a new pollination syndrome?

The flowers of the species of Malpighiaceae in the Neotropical Region are relatively uniform in their morphology due to their dependence on oil-collecting bees as their main pollinators. However, many species of the genus Galphimia seem to have acquired a different floral syndrome, lacking markedly zygomorphic flowers and developed elaiophores in the calyx. Likewise, these species present anthers with great development, probably in response to the selection of pollinators that collect pollen.

Structural diversity of elaiophores in Argentine species of Malpighiaceae: morphology, anatomy, and interaction with pollinators.

Most Neotropical Malpighiaceae species are characterized by having zygomorphic flowers and oil glands in the sepals called elaiophores; these floral characteristics are associated with a particular pollination syndrome through oil-collecting bees. This work proposes a study about the structural characteristics of elaiophores in 18 species of Malpighiaceae present in Argentina. The main objectives are to describe the morphology and anatomy of the elaiophores, to detect variation in the number of glands, to compare similarities or differences in elaiophores of species belonging to different lineages, and to know about the potential pollinators and their association with the structural traits of the elaiophores.