A perfume-collecting male oil bee? Evidences of a novel pollination system involving Anthurium acutifolium (Araceae) and Paratetrapedia chocoensis (Apidae, Tapinotaspidini)

It has been known since Stefan Vogel’s observations in 1969 that solitary female oil bees collect fatty floral oils from specialized oil-secreting plants with the aid of hairy patches on either their legs or abdomen, a reward used as food for their larvae and/or to line their brood cells. Similar adaptations are also known from male oil bees, although the purpose of their oil-collecting behavior has not yet been clarified. Here, we describe a...