The main bee species visiting Piper hispidinervum (C.DC.) inflorescences, their abundance and relative frequency were recorded. Visiting schedule and the influence of climatic factors on the abundance variation of those species were also verified. Insects were collected from P. hispidinervum inflorescences of an 0.5 ha experimental area at Embrapa Acre, using a mouth aspirator, from July/99 to June/2000. Bees visited P. hispidinervum inflorescences during the whole year. An amount of 2,555 individuals, belonging to 20 bee species, were collected. Augochlorini sp. (taxon near to Pereirapis), Pereirapis sp., Scaptotrigona sp.1, Dialictus sp., Scaptotrigona tricolorata Camargo and Augochloropsis sp. were considered dominant. Augochlorini sp. e Pereirapis sp. were more abundant in the dry months, Scaptotrigona species in the rainy months, while Dialictus and Augochloropsis species did not show a defined occurrence season. The subfamily Meliponinae prevailed in number of species, while the family Halictidae prevailed in number of individuals. In general, the significant correlations between climatic variables and abundances of dominant species were low or medium. There was a strong preference of the bees for visiting long pepper inflorescences between 8 am and 9 am, which can be related to the availability of resources and the increase of temperature during the day.
Insecta; Piperaceae; pollination; Pereirapis; Western Amazon
