Females of Xylocopa (Monoxylocopa) abbreviata Hurd & Moure build their nests in the flower stalks of Encholirium spectabile (Bromeliaceae). This bromeliad grows clumped on rock outcrops exposed to direct sunlight in the semi-arid tropical caatingas of northeastern Brazil. In the largest aggregation of E. spectabile, X. abbreviata reached 1,7 nests/stalk and around 20 nests/ha. The stalks are available as nest site after fruiting, and can be used for three months before final decaying. However the flowering asynchronism within local population assures good stalks almost all year round. The flower stalk is filled with a soft pulp where the female dig a single linear nest gallery in a few days. The single linear gallery keeps five brood cells, on average. The top of each cell is delimitated with the powdered material from the stalk pulp, and no lining bee material was observed on the inner cell walls. The cell gallery is isolated from the outside by a thin stalk wall that is exposed to direct sunlight. When disturbed the founder female blocks the entrance with the dorsum of its abdomen. Although using an ephemeral nesting substrata, X. abbreviata presented several generations all year round. Ecological and behavioral constraints upon this Xylocopa species are discussed concerning the tight association with the conspicuous and ephemeral stalks of E. spectabile. This association is also assumed to determine the patchy distribution and the rarity of X. abbreviata in the semi-arid region.
Social behavior; carpenter bee; nest structure; spatial distribution
