Atratus

Категория: Виды шмелей
Отправил: Николай Шмелев

Atratus

Bombus atratus is a neotropical bumblebee that is found throughout regions of South America, including Colombia, Ecuador, Brazil, and Argentina. It lives in social colonies that include a founder queen/queens, workers and brood. B. atratus is somewhat unique because of its potential to oscillate between polygynous (multiple queens) and monogynous (one queen) nesting cycles. Bombus atratus was the first species in the genus Bombus that was discovered to display such polygynous nesting patterns. The polygynous nesting cycles lead to certain specific types of behavior including queen-queen aggression. Nests can also be perennial, which is a characteristic rarely found in other bumblebees. B. atratus can be helpful agriculturally because of their ability to pollinate different species of plants.B. atratus has been found to occupy a range of geographic areas and climates throughout South America. Colonies have the ability to thermoregulate nests and keep them a little bit warmer than the outside environment. Foraging workers use muscle contractions to maintain stable temperatures and coupe with seasonal and daily fluctuations in temperature.

Представлены на:  Sun, 02-Jul-2017, 21:22