Morphological, chemical, and molecular analyses differentiate populations of the subterranean nesting stingless bee Mourella caerulea (Apidae: Meliponini)

Teixeira, Juliana Stephanie Galaschi; Falcón, Tiago; Ferreira-Caliman, Maria Juliana; Witter, Sídia; Francoy, Tiago Maurício

doi:10.1007/s13592-018-0563-5

Cited by 14 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…Furthermore, the low dispersal ability of daughter colonies during swarming process, the dependence upon mother colony, as well as the queen philopatry may help to explain these patterns (Nogueira-Neto, 1954;Engels & Imperatriz-Fonseca, 1990). Other researches using population genetic approaches with different stingless bee species have also found similar results (Tavares et al, 2007;Francisco et al, 2008;Batalha-Filho et al, 2010;Brito et al, 2013;Bonatti et al, 2014, Miranda et al 2016Galaschi-Teixeira et al, 2018). When we analyzed and compared the DNA sequence of the two haplotypes identified here (H4 and H12), we observed that they differed from each other in two mutational steps.…”

Section: Short Notesupporting

confidence: 63%

Genetic Characterization of Melipona subnitida Stingless Bee in Brazilian Northeast

Barbosa¹,

Bonatti

Teixeira

et al. 2019

Sociobiology

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The study of M. subnitida, stingless bee well adapted to extreme environmental conditions, is noteworthy once the Northeastern Brazil faces climate changing predictions in which the precipitation rates are expected to decrease, and the average of temperatures to increase. The well-studied populations are limited to the Caatinga biome, where the species was considered endemic. However, the occurrence of this species has been reported in contrasting environments from arid region, such as mangrove and sandbanks in Maranhão state. Our primary goal was to characterize samples from these different environments and compare them with previously studied populations. We identified a unique mitochondrial haplotype per region. The haplotype found in Lençóis Maranhenses National Park was exclusive from this location and differed regarding the amino acid sequence when compared to the literature presented haplotypes from Caatinga, which might be related with different evolutionary processes in the distinct environments, though further studies are needed to confirm. Melipona subnitida is highly adapted to extreme environmental conditions and can survive under long drought periods, since during water and resource scarcity, the bees reduce the colony size to a minimum number of brood and workers. Thus, the species maintains only essential tasks for the nest, being an important mechanism to save the resources stored during the bloom of rainy periods (Maia-Silva et al., 2014; 2015). Assuming the climate change predictions for Northeastern Brazil (Marengo et al., 2011) in the semi-arid region, where average reductions in precipitation rates of up to 40–50% are expected (PBMC, 2013), the study bees resistant to these conditions, such as M. subnitida, is noteworthy. Considering the importance of this species regarding resistance to extreme climatic conditions, distributional modeling

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Section: Short Notesupporting

confidence: 63%

Genetic Characterization of Melipona subnitida Stingless Bee in Brazilian Northeast

Barbosa¹,

Bonatti

Teixeira

et al. 2019

Sociobiology

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“…We also found that when the CS of FWs (not only their shape) of Plebeia species differs depending on the studied taxa, it can be useful as an additional attribute to help discriminate between distinctive taxa, as suggested by Aytekin et al (2007). This procedure has also been successfully employed to differentiate stingless bee populations elsewhere (Francoy et al, 2009Combey et al, 2013;Halcroft et al, 2016;Galaschi-Teixeira et al, 2018). For example, although P. droryana can be mistaken for four other Plebeia species when the FW shape is not analysed in detail (cross-validation), the use of CS reduced this number to only one species (P. emerina).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 55%

“…(). This procedure has also been successfully employed to differentiate stingless bee populations elsewhere (Francoy et al ., , ; Combey et al ., ; Halcroft et al ., ; Galaschi‐Teixeira et al ., ). For example, although P. droryana can be mistaken for four other Plebeia species when the FW shape is not analysed in detail (cross‐validation), the use of CS reduced this number to only one species ( P. emerina ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Although a wide range of bee taxa have been studied this way (Aytekin et al, 2007;Tofilski, 2008;Francoy et al, 2009;Owen, 2012;Falamarzi et al, 2016), the stingless bees (Apidae: Meliponini) have received special attention from bee researchers (Francoy et al, 2009;Combey et al, 2013;Vijayakumar & Jayaraj, 2013). Most approaches have involved the use of GM as a taxonomic or ecological tool to discriminate populations, lineages, species and genera of stingless bees (Francisco et al, 2008;Nunes et al, 2012;Bonatti et al, 2014;Lima et al, 2016;Sousa et al, 2016;Galaschi-Teixeira et al, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Geometric morphometrics of the forewing shape and size discriminate Plebeia species (Hymenoptera: Apidae) nesting in different substrates

Santos

Marques

et al. 2019

Systematic Entomology

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Historically, studies evaluating morphological diversity in stingless bees (Hymenoptera, Apidae: Meliponini) by geometric morphometrics have been used to successfully discriminate taxa and/or populations. Moreover, the use of geometric morphometrics to evaluate phylogenetic morphological variation among stingless bee species has received less attention. Here, we used geometric morphometrics to assess taxonomic discrimination and putative phylogenetic signals for six diapausing stingless bee species (Plebeia) occurring in southern Brazil. In all, 12 landmarks were captured from forewings of P. droryana, P. saiqui, P. emerina, P. remota, P. nigriceps and P. wittmanni. Our data show that the centroid size of the forewings reliably discriminated, for example, between P. droryana and P. emerina from P. saiqui. Moreover, this trait does not have a significant phylogenetic signal. In turn, we found that the overall accuracy in discriminating between the six Plebeia species according to forewing shape was 84%, while the confusion matrix achieved 71%. Interestingly, our discriminant analysis separated Plebeia species nesting in tree cavities from those nesting under granitic rocks. The latter group has second cubital (landmarks = 5, 6, 7), first medial (landmarks = 2, 3, 8) and first submarginal cells (landmarks = 3, 4, 9, 10) that are larger than those of species nesting in trees. The forewing shape showed a strong phylogenetic signal, therefore suggesting that its variation may be due to an evolutionary history shared between Plebeia species studied here rather than to environmental features. This work sheds light on the value of forewing size and shape attributes in discriminating Plebeia species within same genus. We suggest that landmarks separating different taxonomic groups could be incorporated into dichotomous keys to help in identifying clades of complex resolution.

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“…: Alegrete-Viamão), suggesting a progressive invasion from north to south (Figure 1b). This could reflect the natural colonization of these bees, since their nests are underground and therefore are not a possible target for commercial applications, discarding the anthropic transport of hives (Galaschi-Teixeira et al 2018).…”

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confidence: 99%

Scientific note: southernmost record of Mourella caerulea and evidence of old and gradual colonization to the south

2020

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Little is known about the native bees of Uruguay and no scientific research has been carried out until now. This study aimed to contribute to the knowledge of the native bees, still greatly undermined in Uruguay. To achieve that, workers from the potential species were collected from different locations of the country. Firstly, they were morphologically identified through a taxonomic key and complemented with the Cytochrome Oxidase subunit I sequence, used to infer phylogenetic trees and a haplotype network together with others available in Genbank. Nest characteristics and both morphological and molecular analyses confirm the presence of Mourella caerulea in Uruguay, which constitutes the southernmost formal record of the species. Population analyses suggest that M. caerulea could have colonized the region from the north, slowly and gradually, through the upper regions of the Pampa's plain. meliponini / chromatic dimorphism / COI / native bee

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Morphological, chemical, and molecular analyses differentiate populations of the subterranean nesting stingless bee Mourella caerulea (Apidae: Meliponini)

Cited by 14 publications

References 40 publications

Genetic Characterization of Melipona subnitida Stingless Bee in Brazilian Northeast

Genetic Characterization of Melipona subnitida Stingless Bee in Brazilian Northeast

Geometric morphometrics of the forewing shape and size discriminate Plebeia species (Hymenoptera: Apidae) nesting in different substrates

Scientific note: southernmost record of Mourella caerulea and evidence of old and gradual colonization to the south

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