Trigona (genus)

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Trigona
Trigona spinipes (Irapuã or Arapuã) on nest

Trigona spinipes (Irapuã or Arapuã) on nest

Systematics
Order : Hymenoptera (Hymenoptera)
Superfamily : Apoidea
Bees (Apiformes)
Family : Real bees (Apidae)
Tribe : Stingless bees (Meliponini)
Genre : Trigona
Scientific name
Trigona
Jurine , 1807

Trigona is one of the genera of the tribe of the stingless bees (Meliponini)occurring in Central and South America. Originally defined further, most taxonomists now believe that the genus only includes the species of the former subgenus Trigona s.str. , the other species, partly distributed in Asia and Australia, are now assigned to other genera. But there are also divergent views. Today's view includes around 30 species in the genus. Trigona species are among the most common bee species in South America.

description

Trigona workers reach a body length between 5.5 and 11 millimeters. The genus has the typical body shape of the Meliponini and is difficult to distinguish from related genera. The shape of the tibia of the hind legs is common with some related genera ; the inside of which bears an elongated elevation, which is covered with dense, very short, blunt-ended hair. The lower lying area above it is smooth and shiny. This also distinguishes them from the other basket collectors (the corbiculate bees) of the Old World, who each have characteristically differently designed "baskets" (corbicula). With the other genera of the earlier genus Trigona s. l. They are the only Neotropical Meliponini to have feathery hair on the upper edge of the tibia. The foremost tergite of the trunk section, the scutum (located between the wings when viewed from above) is smooth in all species with only small, widely spaced points. Important features for Trigona s. st. are: The mandibles chewing bar is also toothed in the anterior (distal) section, often along its entire length. The front edge of the labrum bears a tooth in the middle of the front edge. The first tarsal link of the hind legs is covered with silky hair on the inside.

Nests

Trigona species build nests out of wax, to which, depending on the species, collected plant resin or plant fibers are added for reinforcement. Most species nest in tree hollows or other cavities, but the genus is characterized by a great variety of nest building. Some species build free-hanging nests on branches or tree trunks (more rarely, alternatively, on other structures such as walls of buildings), the relatives around Trigona fuscipennis also on lianas . Some species prefer the nests of tree-dwelling termites, one species ( Trigona lacteipennis ) also of ants or wasp nests. Some species are ground-nesting, taking advantage of abandoned termite burrows, root hollows or other existing cavities. Sometimes they also build soil material into the cell and nest envelopes. In larger cavities, the bees divide their nest space by large, flat partition walls called the involucre. Some species draw in additional dividing walls between the brood and storage cells. The nest usually consists of horizontally aligned honeycombs and is surrounded by a shell. Most of the time the entrance area is extended to form a tube-like structure. The species of the Trigona recursa species group build, in addition to breeding and storage cells, separate fecal cells into which they introduce the feces of mammals; probably a defense strategy.

Some species of Trigona are known to form defensive schools. Possible enemies that touch or approach the nest are immediately attacked by numerous bees.

food

Most species of Trigona are, as is typical for bees, pollen collectors. Some species also use meat (especially carrion ) when the opportunity arises. Three species, Trigona necrophaga , Trigona hypogea and Trigona crassipes, are notable for the fact that they are the only bees to have given up pollen (and nectar) as food and have developed into obligatory scavengers (or necrophages), they cover their sugar needs also no longer on flowers, but above all on overripe or rotting fruits. The bees gnaw meat from carrion, which they transport to the nest in the stomach, choke it up there and store it in food cells. It takes on a jelly-like consistency, probably under the influence of digestive enzymes. The food pulp is converted within the cells by specialized types of bacteria and results in a clear, honey-like liquid after approx. 12 to 16 days. One of the species, Trigona hypogea , is also a facultative predator, which exploits the brood from (abandoned) wasp nests, or amphibian eggs, possibly other, more soft-skinned prey.

distribution

The genus, in today's view, is distributed north to Mexico, to the states of Nayarit and Veracruz . To the south it reaches Santa Catarina in southern Brazil and the extreme north of Argentina ( Misiones province ).

Relationship with people

In Brazil, the genus is of no economic interest, as some species, such as the Trigona spinipes , which are strongly represented in the Campinas area , use material that is collected from cow dung for their constructions in addition to clay. For reasons of hygiene, this type is not used for honey production.

Plant fiber-collecting species of the genus Trigona have been reported from Peru as harmful to the physic nut ( Jatropha curcas ) and other plant species.

Taxonomy

The taxonomy of the genus is difficult. Traditionally, almost all species within the Meliponini were assigned to two major genera, Melipona and Trigona . The genus Trigona , in the old conception, was pantropically distributed, with occurrences also in the Old World, as far as East Asia and Australia. Later investigations, on a morphological, but above all on a phylogenomic basis (investigation of the relationship based on the comparison of homologous DNA sequences) have clearly shown that the genus does not represent a natural unit in this broader sense. Rather, it turned out that the species of the continents South America, Africa and Asia (with Australia) each form a family group. Following a suggestion by Jesús Santiago Moure, some taxonomists raised all earlier subgenus of the old genus Trigona to genera. This means that there are no more species of the genus in the Old World. This had already been suspected by Charles Michener in his standard work on the bees of the world, who however shrank from a final split, which did not appear to be mandatory based on morphological characteristics alone.

Following the narrow definition of the genus, the genus still includes around 30 species

Synonyms of Trigona are Amalthea Rafinesque, 1815, Aphaneura Gray, 1832, Pisania Cunha, 1973.

Web links

Commons : Trigona  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c Charles D. Michener : The Bees of the World. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 2nd edition 2007. ISBN 978-0-8018-8573-0 . Trigona, subgenus Trigona on p. 828
  2. ^ Claus Rasmussen, João MF Camargo (2008): A molecular phylogeny and the evolution of nest architecture and behavior in Trigona s. s. (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Meliponini). Apidology 39: 102-118. doi: 10.1051 / apido: 2007051
  3. ↑ João Maria Franco de Camargo & Patricia Vit: Historical Biogeography of the Meliponini (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Apinae) of the Neotropical Region. Chapter 2 in: Patricia Vit Silvia RM Pedro, David Roubik (Eds.): Pot-Honey: A legacy of stingless bees. doi : 10.1007 / 978-1-4614-4960-7_2 . Springer-Verlag, New York a. a., 2013. ISBN 978-1-4614-4959-1
  4. ↑ Sidnei Mateus & Fernando B. Noll (2004): Predatory behavior in a necrophagous bee Trigona hypogea (Hymenoptera; Apidae, Meliponini). Science 91: 94-96. doi: 10.1007 / s00114-003-0497-1
  5. ↑ Claus Rasmussen, Patricia Orihuela-Pasque, Víctor Hugo Sánchez-Bocanegra (2009): Trigona Jurine, 1807 Bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae) as Pests of Physic Nut (Euphorbiaceae: Jatropha curcas) in Peru. Entomotropica 24 (1): 31-34.
  6. ↑ Claus Rasmussen & Sidney A. Cameron (2007): A molecular phylogeny of the Old World stingless bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Meliponini) and the non-monophyly of the large genus Trigona. Systematic Entomology 32: 26-39. doi: 10.1111 / j.1365-3113.2006.00362.x
  7. ↑ 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
  8. ↑ Claus Rasmussen (2008): Catalog of the Indo-Malayan / Australasian stingless bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Meliponini). Zootaxa 1935: 1-80.
  9. ^ 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.