BEES AND PLANTS IN A TRANSITION AREA BETWEEN ATLANTIC RAIN FOREST AND ARAUCARIA FOREST IN SOUTHERN BRAZIL

The community of native bees from a transition area between Atlantic rain forest and Araucaria forest in Joinville, Santa Catarina state, Brazil, was studied regarding to species richness, relative abundance, floral resources and plant interactions. Observations were made monthly from 2008 to 2009, using entomological nets. 710 individuals of 88 species were sampled from the five bee subfamilies existing in Brazil. The bees were sampled on 62 plant species from 29 families. The most visited plant families were Asteraceae (48%), Lamiaceae (10%), Saxifragaceae (9%) and Rosaceae (8%). The bee subfamily with the highest species diversity was Halictinae (44%), followed by Apinae (38%), Andreninae (11%), Megachilinae (8%) and Colletinae (1%). The subfamilies abundance sequence was: Apinae (81%), Halictinae (12%), Andreninae and Megachilinae (both 3%) and Colletinae (less than 1%). Apis mellifera L. was the most abundant species (42%), followed by Trigona spinipes (Fabricius) (14%) and Plebeia sp. This study depicts a system with asymmetric interactions shown by the species grouping, with a predominance of general relationships, revealing the relative importance of abundance for mutual networks nesting. The results from the network metrics evaluated reveal a robust and diverse web, in a recurrent feature of biodiversity structuring.