Variation of fore wing shape in Melipona mandacaia Smith, 1863 (Hymenoptera, Meliponini) along its geographic range

Lorena Andrade Nunes,Paulo Luiz Souza Carneiro,Ana Maria Waldschmidt,Rogério Marcos De Oliveira Alves,Arlete Prado-Silva

doi:10.3897/jhr.48.6619

Abstract

Melipona mandacaia is a stingless bee species responsible for the pollination of many native plants in Brazil, South America. In spite of its ecological and economic importance, natural populations of M. mandacaia have been depleted because of deforestation. In order to evaluate the interpopulation morphometric structure of remaining populations, we carried out geometric morphometric studies based on fore wing shape in this native bee species. The grouping analysis by UPGMA revealed three distinct clusters and significant differences in fore wing size were observed (p<0.001) among populations. The three groups were also reflected in the first two principal components explaining about 60% of the total variation. These results indicate differentiation among populations, which can be regarded as unique management units. Therefore, efforts should be directed to the conservation of local populations of M. mandacaia to avoid the negative impacts of loss in pollination over plant species and environmental services.

Highlights

Stingless bees play a key role in natural and agricultural systems (Eardley et al 2006) as they account for about 30% to 90% of pollination in native flora (Kerr 1997)
The fore wing shape was more informative in discriminating the groups than size, demonstrating the efficiency of geometric morphometrics
The present analyses indicated gene flow among individuals from the three morphogenetic groups of M. mandacaia (Figure 2) inasmuch as populations are weakly structured

Summary

Introduction

Stingless bees play a key role in natural and agricultural systems (Eardley et al 2006) as they account for about 30% to 90% of pollination in native flora (Kerr 1997) These bees produce high-quality honey, propolis, pollen and wax used as food sources and/or as pharmaceutical products. Being typical of the caatinga (dry bushland) biome, M. mandacaia is well adapted to high temperatures and reduced rainfall conditions (Carvalho et al 2003, Batalha-Filho et al 2011) The nests of this species are built in tree holes (Camara et al 2004) and some populations have been raised in boxes by local farmers for honey production, representing a major portion of economy and food in traditional agriculture (Carvalho et al 2003)

Methods

Results

Conclusion