Abstract
Stingless bees (Apidae: Meliponini) are culturally and economically important bees and they represent a major component of the Colombian melittofauna. However, the bee fauna of Colombia is still in early stages of exploration and species identification is often difficult or impossible. We revised the species of the cleptobiotic stingless bee genus Lestrimelitta in Colombia and recognized the following eleven species: L. glabrata, L. guyanensis, L. rufa, L. rufipes, and L. spinosa, which are recorded for the first time for the country; L. huilensis, L. opita, L. piedemontana, and two new species, L. diminuta, sp. n. and L. galvisi sp. n. We also confirmed the presence of L. limao in the Colombian Amazon and provide new geographical records with an updated key to species from Central America and northern South America
Highlights
Stingless bees (Hymenoptera: Meliponini) are social, honey-making bees that represent about 2.5 % of the global melittofauna
We revised the species of the cleptobiotic stingless bee genus Lestrimelitta in Colombia and recognized the following eleven species: L. glabrata, L. guyanensis, L. rufa, L. rufipes, and L. spinosa, which are recorded for the first time for the country; L. huilensis, L. opita, L. piedemontana, and two new species, L. diminuta, sp. n. and L. galvisi sp. n
The true diversity of stingless bees in Colombia is at most a guess, with available literature records differing in the number and identity of the species occurring in the country (e.g., Nates-Parra 2006, Camargo and Pedro 2007, Ascher and Pickering c2018)
Summary
Stingless bees (Hymenoptera: Meliponini) are social, honey-making bees that represent about 2.5 % of the global melittofauna. They are among the most ecologically, economically, and culturally significant bees in tropical and subtropical areas of the world. The purpose of this work is to address the taxonomy of the stingless bee genus Lestrimelitta (Apidae: Meliponini) in Colombia. These bees are obligate robbing or cleptobiotic bees widely distributed in the Neotropical region, which despite having nests of their own, they steal food and nest materials from other stingless bees, such as species of Nannotrigona, as well as honey bees (Portugal-Araújo 1958, Sakagami et al 1993)
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