Notes on Interaction between Northern House Gecko Hemidactylus flaviviridis (Reptilia: Squamata) and Stingless Bee (Trigona iridipennis) (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Meliponini)

Raju Vyas

Abstract


The first documentation on the interaction of Northern House Gecko (Hemidactylus flaviviridis) and Stingless Bee (Trigona iridipennis). Few adult and sub-adult geckos regularly predated stingless bees. This study indicates that during morning and afternoon, geckos attended the nest and predated small numbers of incoming bees. A single adult gecko is able to hunt 8 (5 – 10) bees per 1 h and around six hour long presence of gecko was observed at the nests and an average of over four dozens bees were predated by a gecko from a single nest. This gecko species is nocturnal and foraging activity is high from evening to late night. But here, geckos predated bees diurnally being opportunistic predators.

Keywords


gecko; stingless bee; prey; predation

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References


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DOI: https://doi.org/10.30906/1026-2296-2012-19-1-65–69

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