The article presents the results of an experimental study of the behavior of the resin bee Megachile sculpturalis Smith, 1853 inhabiting Fabre hives. The hives provided to the bees for colonization were made of segments of reed stalks (Phragmites australis) in the form of tubes, open on one side and closed on the other. The tubes were tied into bundles and inserted into the front wall of the hive or fixed to its sides. In addition, separate tubes were inserted into the front wall of the hive at different distances from each other. Female bees preferred to colonize tubes located on the front wall of the hive separately at a distance of 2.5 and 4.5 cm from each other (49.5 % and 40.7 % of colonized tubes, respectively). Tubes tied into bundles were colonized less willingly. Bundles located on the front wall of the hive were colonized more readily (32.0 % of the colonized tubes in bundles) than bundles located on the sides of the hive (12.8 % of the colonized tubes in bundles). Bunches assembled from tubes with a straight cut of the front edge were populated 2.3 times more often than bundles assembled from tubes with an oblique cut of the front edge. Tubes of the outermost row of a bundle of tubes were populated more often than tubes located in the second row or in the center of the bundle of tubes. The percentage of colonization of tubes in the first row was 16.5 %, in the second row – 13.5 %, and of tubes located in the center of the bundle – 7.7 %. The lower density of tube colonization in certain variants of the experiment is explained by the fact that in these variants the female bees had difficulties remembering the location of the tube they had chosen for colonization. The female bees populated tubes of different diameters in the range from 7 to 16 mm, without a preference for tubes of any diameter. The length of the populated tubes varied from 7 to 35 cm. A preference for tubes in any range of length was also not revealed. The lack of skills in assessing the linear parameters of the cavity for the nest in females of M. sculpturalis is explained by their loss due to the transition to a tenantry – a settlement of nests of other bee species. This assumption is confirmed by the known tendency of M. sculpturalis to populate holes of abandoned nests of Xylocopa bees, including in the Crimea. Tubes with a smooth concave bottom were populated 2.7 times more often than tubes with an uneven and convex bottom. This feature of nesting of M. sculpturalis is also interpreted as a consequence of the transition to a tenantry.
Megachile sculpturalis, nesting, choice of a cavity for the nest, Fabre hive
1. Zhidkov V. Yu., Dubinina A. V Osobennosti vybora gnezdovyh kanalov dikimi pchelami megahilidami (Apoidea: Megachilidae) pri zaselenii gnezd-lovushek// Evraziyskiy Soyuz Uchenyh.– 2014.– № 9, 2. Ivanov S. P. Konstruktivnye osobennosti iskusstvennyh gnezdoviy dlya odinochnyh pchel // Nasekomye-opyliteli sel'skohozyaystvennyh kul'tur (Sb. nauchn. tr.). – Novosibirsk: Sib. otdel. VASHNIL,
2. Ivanov S. P. Bionomiya pchel-megahilid (Hymenoptera, Apoidea, Megachilidae) i evolyuciya ih gnezdostroitel'nyh instinktov: diss. … dokt. biol. nauk: spec. 03.00.24 Entomologiya. – Kiev: Institut
3. Ivanov S. P. Materialy sravnitel'nogo izucheniya stroeniya gnezd pchel-listorezov (Hymenoptera, Megachilidae, Megachile Latr.). Soobschenie I. Raznoobrazie gnezdovyh postroek // Uchenye zapiski
4. Ivanov S. P., Zhidkov V. Yu., Dubinina A. V. Izuchenie sposobnosti pchel-megahilid (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae) k orientacii po rezul'tatam zaseleniya imi gnezd-lovushek // Evraziyskiy Soyuz
5. Lakin G. F. Biometriya. – M.: Vysshaya shkola, 1990. – 350 s.
6. Fabr Zh. A. Instinkt i nravy nasekomyh / [Pod. red. I. Ya. Shevyreva]. – SPb.: Izd-vo A. F. Marksa, 1898. – 590 s.
7. Aguado O., Hernbndez-Castellano C., Bassols E., Miralles, M., Navarro D., Stefanescu C., Vicens N. (2018).
8. Megachile (Callomegachile) sculpturalis Smith, 1853 (Apoidea: Megachilidae): a new exotic species in the Iberian Peninsula, and some notes about its biology // Butlletn de la Instituciu Catalana d’Histtria
9. Andrieu-Ponel V., Ponel P., Le Fyon V., Geslin B., Duvallet G. A propos du comportement de butinage de Megachile sculpturalis Smith, 1853, en France myditerranyenne (Nomes et Montpellier) (Hymenoptera,
10. Bogo G., Fisogni A., Iannone A., Grillenzoni F.-V., Corvucci F., Bortolotti L. Nesting biology and nest structure of the exotic bee Megachile sculpturalis // Bulletin of Entomological Research. – 2024. – Vol. 114, N 1.
11. Bila Dubaić J., Raičević J., Plećaš1 M., Lanner J., Nikolić P., Žikić V., Stanisavljević L., Ćetković A. Further range expansion of the sculptured resin bee (Megachile sculpturalis) in serbia and bosnia & Herzegovina
12. Hinojosa-Dnaz I. A. The giant resin bee making its way west: first record in Kansas (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae) // ZooKeys. – 2008. – Vol. 1. – R. 67–71.
13. Ivanov S. P., Fateryga A. V. First record of the invasive giant resin bee Megachile (Callomegachile) sculpturalis Smith, 1853 (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae) in the Crimea // Far Eastern Entomologist. – 2019. – N 395.
14. Ivanov S. P., Fateryga A. V., Zhidkov V. Yu., Pivovarenko N. A. Giant resin bee Megachile (Callomegachile) sculpturalis Smith, 1853 (Hymenoptera, Apoidea, Megachilidae), an invasive species in the Crimea
15. Kakutani T., Inoue T., Kato, M., Ichihashi H. Insectflower relationship in the campus of Kyoto University, Kyoto: An overview of the flowering phenology and the seasonal pattern of insect visits // Contributions from
16. Lanner J., Gstcttenmayer F., Curto M., Geslin B., Huchler K., Orr M. C., Pachinger B., Sedivy C., Meimber H. Evidence for multiple introductions of an invasive wild bee species currently under rapid range expansion
17. Laport R. G., Minckley R. L. Occupation of active Xylocopa virginica nests by the recently invasive Megachile sculpturalis in upstate New York // Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society. – 2012. – Vol. 85, N 4.
18. Le Fyon V. Geslin B. Ycologie et distribution de l’abeille originaire d’Asie Megachile sculpturalis Smith 1853 (Apoidea – Megachilidae – Megachilini): un ytat des connaissances dix ans apris sa premiire
19. Maeta Y., Kitamura K., Kagino Y., Ikegami N. In-nest behaviors and labor economy of Megachile (Callomegachile) sculpturalis Smith (Hymenoptera, Megachilidae) // Chugoku Kontyo. – 2008. – Vol. 22. – R. 1–22.
20. Mangum W. A., Brooks R. W. First records of Megachile (Callomegachile) sculpturalis Smith (Hymenoptera:
21. Megachilidae) in the Continental United States // Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society. – 1997. – Vol. 70, N 2. – R. 140–142.
22. Parys K., Tripodi A., Sampson B. The giant resin bee, Megachile sculpturalis Smith: new distributional records for the mid- and gulf-south USA // Biodiversity Data Journal. – 2015. – Vol. 3. – Article e6733.
23. Quaranta M., Sommaruga A., Balzarini P., Felicioli A. A new species for the bee fauna of Italy: Megachile sculpturalis continues its colonization of Europe // Bulletin of Insectology. – 2014. – Vol. 67.
24. Roulston T., Malfi R. Aggressive eviction of the Eastern Carpenter Bee (Xylocopa virginica (Linnaeus)) from its nest by the Giant Resin Bee (Megachile sculpturalis Smith) // Journal of the Kansas Entomological
25. Westrich P., Knapp A., Berney I. Megachile sculpturalis Smith 1853 (Hymenoptera, Apidae), a new species for the bee fauna of Germany, now north of the Alps // Eucera. – 2015. – N 9. – R. 3–10.
