Behavior Studies of the Stingless Bees, with Special Reference to the Oviposition Process II. Melipona seminigra merrillae Cookerell

This second report on the behavior of stingless bees deals with the observations made on Melipona seminigra merrillae Cockerell (henceforth abbreviated seminigra). The colony observed was obtained in Manaus, Amazonas, at the end of January, 1963; it was transported to Rio Claro and studied there, using the observation hive like that for M. commpressipes manaosensis Schwarz (hence-forth abbreviated compressipes) reported in a previous paper (Sakagami and Oniki, 1963). Seminigra is ethologically distinct from probably all other groups of the genus Melipona by the enlarged and peculiarly constructed nest entrance, as well as by the characteristic warning posture of the guard bees (Kerr et al., unpubl.). But the behavior patterns within the hive were mostly similar to those already described for compressipes, and observations were made not too intensively