First contribution to the plant-bee (Apoidea) interaction network of ‘El Impenetrable’ National Park, Chaco, Argentina

AVALOS, GUILLERMO LUIS; LARREA, DARÍO DANIEL; CORONEL, J.M.

Encuentro; Center for Systematic Entomology (CSE); 2024

Center for Systematic Entomology

The Chacoan ‘Impenetrable’ region encompasses a great diversity, with many endemic and poorly studied species. Among them, bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) are important for the ecosystem functioning. In Argentina, five families are represented: Colletidae, Andrenidae, Halictidae, Megachilidae, and Apidae; nevertheless, there are few contributions to the study of bee communities and the ecology of plant-pollinator interaction networks in different ecosystems. This work reports the potential interactions between some of the bee species found at ‘El Impenetrable’ and plant species likely associated to them according to entomo-palynological studies. Eleven bee and 24 pollen taxa were classified. A priori, we observed that the classified bee species showed a varying and differential diet, which could indicate a clear botanical preference in some bees. Asteraceae and Fabaceae, were the most frequently plant families foraged by bees. The park´s plant-bee network tends to be specialized and cohesive.