STUDY ON MORPHOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTIC OF STINGLESS BEE (Heterotrigona itama) IN TERENGGANU

Abstract

Stingless bee, Heterotrigona itama is one of the most important and effective insect pollinators of many plant species. They can be found in the tropical rain forest where they build their nest in the living trees. This study was conducted to measure the morphological characteristic of H. itama from two different populations which were TKPM (Taman Kekal Pengeluaran Makanan) Kampung Peradong, Manir (A) and Big Bee Honey, Merchang (B), Terengganu. 20 individuals of H. itama adults were taken from each population by using insect net. The external morphologies such as body length, head, abdomen, thorax, leg, tibia, forewing, hindwing and antenna were measured by using DinoLite 2.0. The measurements were recorded and the mean ± standard deviation and range of the measurement data were analysed. Based on Mann-Whitney test, there were significant differences for population B of H. itama in mean of head length (p=0.0016; p<0.05), head width (p=0.0022; p<0.05) and thorax width (p=0.0445; p<0.05). However, there was no difference in body colour for H. itama of both populations. H. itama of population B has a larger segmented body with the range of head length at 1.179 mm to 2.152 mm, head width 1.743 mm to 2.557 mm, and thorax width 1.809 mm to 2.329 mm. For future research, it is suggested that this study can look into the genetic status of this species.