Abstract. Efin A, Atmowidi T, Prawasti TS. 2019. Short Communication:  Morphological Characteristics and Morphometric of Stingless Bee (Apidae:  Hymenoptera) from Banten Province, Indonesia. Biodiversitas 20:  1693-1698. Tetragonula (Meliponini:  Apidae) belong to stingless bees that characterized by complex communication, permanent colonies with division of castes, i.e., queen, males, and workers. This paper described morphological characters and morphometric study of stingless bee from Pandeglang, Banten Province, Indonesia. Local people (Sundanese) known as the specimen examined is “teuweul omas” that have different in nest entrance characteristics compare to nest of Tetragonula laeviceps found commonly. In average, specimens examined were 4.445±0.072 mm body length, 1.911±0.019 mm head width, mesoscutum has distinct hair bands separated by glabrous interspaces area, with plumose frontal hairs, and black metasoma, legs, and hairs on the frontal. Male genitalia of stingless bee examined are long gonostylus and slender with sparse hairs at apex, penis valve is very robust, tapering at the apex and shorter than gonostylus. Based on morphological characteristics and morphometric measurements, we identified the specimen examined is Tetragonula cf. laeviceps.

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Stingless bees are pollinating insects that are important for plants and useful for producing honey. The role of stingless bees as pollinators related to the activity of foraging on flowers. The aim of this study was to measure pollen load and flower constancy of two species stingless bees, Tetragonula laeviceps and Heterotrigona itama in the campus area of IPB University, Bogor. As many as 30 individuals of T. laeviceps and H. itama from different nest colonies were used. Each individual of bee was collected in a 1.5 mL microtube containing 0.5 mL 70% ethanol: glycerol (4: 1). The results showed that the highest pollen load occurred in T. laeviceps (122,594 pollen grains) followed by H. itama (56,575 pollen grains). Tetragonula laeviceps showed 78.32% flower constancy in Polygonaceae, 74.05% in Amaranthaceae, and 70.76% in Solanaceae plants. Meanwhile, Heterotrigona itama showed 73.16% flower constancy in Polygonaceae. The pollen load and flower constancy of T. laeviceps and H. itama varied according to the location of the nest.

Limited data is hitherto available on the diversity and dispersal of parasitic mites of geckos in Indonesia. Here, we collected three species of geckos, namely Cosymbotus platyurus, Hemidactylus frenatus, and H. garnotii throughout Indonesia to study the distribution and diversity of its parasitic mites. We conducted detail morphological analysis of the mites using whole mount polyvinyl lactophenol and scanning electron microscope preparation. Three species of ectoparasite mites from genus Geckobia were identified in a total of 221 individuals out of 448 geckos collected from 25 sites in Indonesia. Two species were G. glebosum and G. bataviensis, and the other one was designated as Geckobia sp 1. Based on our result, the three mites species were spread randomly and live sympatrically. The G. bataviensis mite showed the widest distribution, because it was found in almost all gecko collection sites, hence the most cosmopolitan mites. We also found that C. platyurus gecko had the lowest mite prevalence which might due to the fact that it has the least number of skin folds, an important site for mite protection. This result implies that further research on the relationship of anatomy of gecko skin with chelicera and claw structure of mites is necessary in the future

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