Inconsistent changes on infuscation and length of the forewing of Heterotrigona itama populations supported by COI Phylogeny

Abstract

No study has been done so far using a large number of data for investigating the morphological changes (infuscation and length of the forewings) of the Heterotrigona itama populations, and constructing its phylogeny using the cytochrome c oxidase (COI) sequences. Through this research, the origin of the plant species of each colony will be estimated and may confirm does the movement of log beehives is supported by the COI phylogeny or not. That information still is not understood and is very crucial as the basis of genetic information and implies evolutionary transition and conservation programmes. In this study, the samples of H. itama from 37 colonies throughout Malaysia were collected from log beehives in varied ecosystems, wild (several forest types) and non-wild (orchards and residential areas). In this study, the non-infuscated front wings found in many H. itama populations are widely distributed in the East and West Malaysia populations, while no significant difference in H. itama populations (F (36, 369) = 1.84, p > 0.05) was observed in the length of the forewing. The Neighbour-Joining (NJ), Maximum Parsimony (MP), and Bayesian inference (BI) trees of the COI showed a mixture between colonies and sampling sites on the tree topologies, except the Seberang Perai colony where the beehive log was collected from the mangrove tree. The results of the phylogenetic analyses supported the findings on the morphological changes that are probably due to the movement of log beehives, however, it is not parallel with the changing ecosystem types.