The honeys from stingless bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Meliponini) are recognized for their medicinal properties. They are commonly used by many indigenous groups around the world. However, in Peru stingless beekeeping is practiced in an artisanal way and the honeys remain products whose qualities are still little studied. The objective of this work was to analyze physicochemical characteristics and microbiological quality of honeys produced by Scaptotrigona polysticta Moure, Melipona illota Cockerell and Tetragonisca angustula Latreille in apiaries of department of San Martin, Peru. In June and November 2019, 30 honey samples were collected from 24 colonies housed in two apiaries in the towns of Tarapoto and Chasuta. Significant differences (p <0,05) were found for pH (3,

Stingless bees (Hymenoptera: Meliponini) are among the most important pollinators of tropical forests. Peru is considered a hotspot of biodiversity of Meliponini, but many areas of this country (e.g., Peruvian Amazon) remain unexplored. We aimed to produce a first inventory of stingless bee species dwelling in humid and seasonally dry forests of northern Peru by combining traditional (morphologically-based) taxonomy and DNA barcoding. Specimens were collected in 2020 at five sites located in San Martin and Piura regions. We identified 12 genera of Meliponini. Among those, Trigona and Plebeia were the most abundant (45.9% and 12.8% respectively), whereas Nannotrigona and Scaura were the least represented ones (2.3%). We assigned a reliable species identification to about 30% of specimens (Trigona amazonensis, T. muzoensis, T. williana, Partamona testacea, Scaura tenuis, Tetragona goettei, and Tetragonisca angustula). Yet, more than a half of the specimens received a provisional identification (e.g., Geotrigona cf. fulvohirta, T. cf. amalthea, T. cf. fuscipennis, T. cf. hypogea, Melipona cf. cramptoni, Partamona cf. epiphytophila, Ptilotrigona cf. perenae, Scaura cf. latitarsis, Tetragona cf. clavipes, Trigonisca cf. atomaria). We also highlighted an extensive polyphyly that affected a number of currently recognized species (e.g., T. fulviventris, T. guianae, Plebeia franki, P. frontalis, M. eburnea, M. illota), whose members were split into various clades. Finally, 16% of individuals failed to be identified at the species level (Trigona sp. 1, T. sp. 2, Nannotrigona sp., Partamona sp., Scaptotrigona sp. 1, S. sp. 2, Trigonisca sp. 1, and Trigonisca sp. 2). We discuss our findings according to the current faunistic and biogeographic knowledge of Meliponini in Peru and the Neotropical region. We also remark on the importance of conducting a taxonomic revision of stingless bees and improving both their morphology-based identification keys and BOLD repository. Finally, we claim that integrative taxonomy shall be strongly implemented to truly assess the biodiversity of Neotropical stingless bees, allowing conserving these important pollinators and the associated traditional meliponiculture in an effective manner.