Abstract
Some five species of stingless bees of the neo tropical genus Melipona are known from Costa Rica, where they are known as jicotes. They are high1y social bees, very efficient pollinators and producers of honey and wax, and differ from the rest of the genera of the Meliponini tribe by ten well-defined morphological characters. Their communications system is somewhat similar to that of the common honey bee (Apis mellifera). The supposed subspecies Melipona beecheii fulvipes is actually a valid species (Melipona fulvipes) and its distribution is from Mexico to Costa Rica, usually at lower altitudes. A general commentary of each of the species of the genus and a key to the species and subspecies of Costa Rica are presented. Long-term experiments showed that while outside temperatures fluctuated greatly, that in the interior of a nest of M. flavipennis remained constant.
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