Melipona
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Melipona quadrifasciata (Mandaçaia) with pollen baskets |
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| Illiger , 1806 |
Melipona is one of the genera of the tribe of the stingless bees (Meliponini) occurring in Central and South America .
description
Melipona workers are squat, sturdy bees 8 to 15 millimeters long with an oval abdomen. The species are relatively large for Meliponini , M. fuliginosa is the largest species of the tribe. The wings are relatively short, when at rest they barely or not at all protrude from the tip of the free abdomen. The genus can be distinguished from related genera by the number of hamuli (the hook-shaped bristles on the wing edge that couple the front and rear wings with each other in flight): The 9 to 14 of Melipona are only 5 to 7 in the other genera (very rarely up to 9) against. The pterostigma or wing mark is narrow in the genus, its inner edge is straight, not curved. Like all Meliponini, the workers do not have a functional poison sting, but a relatively large rudiment of it, which still has a clear tip. The spiked sheath protrudes slightly towards the back, its outer edge is angularly limited.
Habitats
Most of the species in the genus inhabit tropical rainforests. They are less common in other, partly tree-lined habitats such as tree savannahs or dry forests ( caatinga ).
Nests
Melipona species nest almost exclusively in tree hollows. At least one species, Melipona quadrifasciata , uses earth caves differently. Many species build, in addition to self-deposited wax, also collected resin, also clay or earth into the walls, some also build pebbles and small stones. Many species use this material to build defensive walls up to 10 centimeters thick, with which they wall large cavities to the outside up to the nest entrance. In addition, the nest is bordered in all directions by one or more nest covers. In many species, a landing platform is built at the nest entrance, which is often reinforced by radial wax lamellas. Inside, the entrance is often drawn out into a long, easier-to-defend tube. Some species, such as Melipona panamica , form balls of collected resin that they use to barricade the nest entrance when enemies approach. Many species form defensive swarms that collectively attack actual or potential nest predators. In addition to the horizontally aligned brood combs, most species build larger, often irregularly arranged food containers that do not always have to be arranged in a honeycomb shape. Abandoned nests are reused, occasionally by species other than the builder.
The genus is remarkable in that, unlike almost all other social bees, it does not create larger brood cells for queen brood, these are no larger than the cells of the worker bees.
Recruiting behavior
At least some Melipona species, such as honeybees, are able to recruit workers into abundant sources of food. The sophisticated behavior of the honeybees with their waggle dance is never pronounced. Some species only encourage nestmates to fly through increased activity, supported by sound or vibration signals, without any evidence of the location of the food surface being obvious , but the type of pollen or nectar source is transmitted through feeding ( trophallaxis ). In some species that have been better studied, individuals have also been observed who orient other workers in the direction of the source by ramming, zigzagging or turning movements. Many species can also indicate the distance and the height of the source (in the crown layer, in the undergrowth, near the ground). By releasing glandular secretions, some species may create veritable odor channels.
distribution
The genus is distributed in the north to Mexico, states of Sinaloa and Tamaulipas . Some species live in the Lesser Antilles . In the south it reaches the north of Argentina, Tucumán Province and Misiones .
Taxonomy
With around 70 species, Melipona is one of the largest genera of the Meliponini . The monophyly of the genus has seldom been questioned based on morphological features; it has also been proven by genetic methods. It then belongs in a clade with other genera that are also common in the Neotropics. The genus is conventionally divided into four sub-genera, plus some species of uncertain affiliation ( incertae sedis ), the sub-genera are left by most taxonomists in the broad genus.
- Melipona s. st.
- Eomelipona
- Melikerria
- Michmelia
In a genetic investigation, three of the subgenus were found to be natural, monophyletic units, but the subgenus Eomelipona would therefore be an artificially assembled unit. In addition, all species conventionally classified as incertae sedis with one exception ( M. fuliginosa ) also formed a natural group. According to the methods of the molecular clock , depending on the calculation method, the genus would be 14 to 17 or 25 million years old.
Up until the 1970s, a great many taxonomists divided the stingless bees into two major genera, Trigona and Melipona . The genus was therefore further delimited for a long time and included many species that are now classified in other genera. Although some taxonomists from the Old World have described species in this genus, most had long believed that it was an exclusively Neotropical group.
Relationship with people
Some of the species such as Melipona quadrifasciata are used in small communities in South America in sustainability projects for beekeeping in order to enable small families and farmers to earn extra income from selling honey and to contribute to species and nature conservation.
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Charles D. Michener: The Bees of the World. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 2nd edition 2007. ISBN 978-0-8018-8573-0 . Genus Melipona on p. 817
- ↑ David W. Roubik (2006): Stingless bee nesting biology. Apidologie 37: 124-143 doi : 10.1051 / apido: 2006026
- ↑ James Nieh (2004): Recruitment communication in stingless bees (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Meliponini). Apidology 35 (2): 159-182. doi : 10.1051 / apido: 2004007
- ↑ Claus Rasmussen & Sidney A. Cameron (2010): Global stingless bee phylogeny supports ancient divergence, vicariance, and long distance dispersal. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 99: 206-232. doi : 10.1111 / j.1095-8312.2009.01341.x
- ^ JMF Camargo & SRM Pedro (2013) Meliponini Lepeletier, 1836. In Moure, JS, Urban, D. & Melo, GAR (Orgs). Catalog of Bees (Hymenoptera, Apoidea) in the Neotropical Region - online version , accessed July 14, 2016.
- ↑ Santiago R. Ramírez, James C. Nieh, Tiago B. Quental, David W. Roubik, Vera L. Imperatriz-Fonseca, Naomi E. Pierce (2010): A molecular phylogeny of the stingless bee genus Melipona (Hymenoptera: Apidae) . Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 56: 519-525. doi : 10.1016 / j.ympev.2010.04.026
- ↑ Herbert Ferlando Black (1932): The genus Melipona: the type genus of the Meliponidae or stingless bees. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 63, article 4 download
Web links
- Home of Stingless Bee Research
- Bees (Apoidea): Zoology ( Memento from February 29, 2012 in the Internet Archive )