Abstract
Simple SummarySince 2012, the stingless beekeeping industry in Malaysia has been booming and to date, there are more than 700 farms representing around 60,000 colonies. In 2019, a group of fly immatures were found in a decaying stingless bee nest. The species identification for adults and larvae was carried out by both morphology and molecular techniques. This study provides the first identified record of Hermetia fenestrata colonizing a “spoiled” stingless bee colony. The implementation of proper management of stingless bee farms and novel strategies in the prevention and control of Hermetia colonization should be further explored in order to maintain healthy bee colonies for mitigating losses.Meliponiculture, the keeping of domesticated stingless bees such as Geniotrigona thoracica (Smith, 1857) (Hymenoptera: Apidae), is an increasingly popular agricultural industry in Malaysia. This study reports the soldier fly (Diptera: Stratiomyidae) species of the genus Hermetia colonizing stingless bee colonies in Malaysia. The larvae were reared in the laboratory to the adult stage and identified through molecular and morphological approaches. Hermetia illucens (Linnaeus, 1758) and Hermetia fenestrata de Meijere, 1904 (Diptera: Stratiomyidae) were identified from the sample provided. Earlier records of stratiomyids in stingless bee nests were misidentified as H. illucens. This paper represents the first identified record of H. fenestrata colonizing a “spoiled” stingless bee colony. In addition, adult and larval morphological differences between both species and the roles of both species in bee nest decomposition are discussed.
Highlights
Meliponiculture is the keeping of stingless bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae), in which a colony of bees is domesticated for the purpose of pollination or for the production of honey, pollen, and propolis products [1]
Two stratiomyid species were identified from the decomposing G. thoracica nest: Hermetia illucens (n = 4) and H. fenestrata (n = 26)
The presence of Hermetia larvae in decaying stingless bee nests in Peninsular
Summary
Meliponiculture is the keeping of stingless bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae), in which a colony of bees is domesticated for the purpose of pollination or for the production of honey, pollen, and propolis products [1]. A healthy stingless bee colony has about 5000 worker bees, housed inside a wooden hive box and includes propolis pots that store honey and pollen. Modern beekeeping in Malaysia began during the early 1980s with local bees Apis cerana Fabricius, 1793 (Hymenoptera: Apidae) and the importation of commercial bee species, such as the European Apis mellifera Linnaeus, 1758 (Hymenoptera: Apidae), which were capable of producing 50 kg of honey per colony annually. These species were determined to be susceptible to select pathogens [2,3]
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