Nesting Behavior Of The Oil-Collecting Beeepicharis(Triepicharis)Analislepeletier (Hymenoptera: Apidae) In An Urban Area Of Rio De Janeiro, Rj, Brazil

An aggregation of the oil-collecting beeEpicharis(Triepicharis)analisLepeletier was studied at the Jardim Botanico do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The nesting area occupied 609 m(2)of mostly sandy flat soil. The nest architecture was relatively simple, with a main tunnel of approximately 45 cm in depth with two to five lateral tunnels ending in a single brood cell. The entrance remained open, but not always directly exposed. Adult activity lasted approximately 75 days. The females dug the tunnels, constructed the brood cells, collected provisions and laid the eggs in about three days. Diapause occurred in the postdefecating larval stage, and there was no cocoon. The cleptoparasitic apid beesRhathymus unicolor(Smith) andMesoplia rufipes(Perty) were registered attacking the nests. Nest architecture and the morphology of the brood cells are described and illustrated.