DNA Barcoding of Stingless Bees (Hymenoptera: Meliponini) in Northern Peruvian Forests: A Plea for Integrative Taxonomy

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...

詳細記述

書誌詳細
出版年:Diversity
主要な著者: Marilena Marconi, Alessandro Modesti, Leydi Paz Alvarez, Paolo Villegas Ogoña, Agustín Cerna Mendoza, Carlos Daniel Vecco-Giove, Javier Ormeño Luna, Andrea Di Giulio, Emiliano Mancini
フォーマット: 論文
言語:英語
出版事項: MDPI AG 2022-08-01
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オンライン・アクセス:https://www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/14/8/632
その他の書誌記述
要約: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, <i>Trigona</i> and <i>Plebeia</i> were the most abundant (45.9% and 12.8% respectively), whereas <i>Nannotrigona</i> and <i>Scaura</i> were the least represented ones (2.3%). We assigned a reliable species identification to about 30% of specimens (<i>Trigona amazonensis</i>, <i>T. muzoensis</i>, <i>T. williana</i>, <i>Partamona testacea</i>, <i>Scaura tenuis</i>, <i>Tetragona goettei,</i> and <i>Tetragonisca angustula</i>). Yet, more than a half of the specimens received a provisional identification (e.g., <i>Geotrigona</i> cf. <i>fulvohirta</i>, <i>T.</i> cf. <i>amalthea</i>, <i>T.</i> cf. <i>fuscipennis, T.</i> cf. <i>hypogea</i>, <i>Melipona</i> cf. <i>cramptoni</i>, <i>Partamona</i> cf. <i>epiphytophila</i>, <i>Ptilotrigona</i> cf. <i>perenae</i>, <i>Scaura</i> cf. <i>latitarsis</i>, <i>Tetragona</i> cf. <i>clavipes</i>, <i>Trigonisca</i> cf. <i>atomaria</i>). We also highlighted an extensive polyphyly that affected a number of currently recognized species (e.g., <i>T. fulviventris</i>, <i>T. guianae</i>, <i>Plebeia franki</i>, <i>P. frontalis</i>, <i>M. eburnea</i>, <i>M. illota</i>), whose members were split into various clades. Finally, 16% of individuals failed to be identified at the species level (<i>Trigona</i> sp. 1, <i>T.</i> sp. 2, <i>Nannotrigona</i> sp., <i>Partamona</i> sp., <i>Scaptotrigona</i> sp. 1, <i>S</i>. sp. 2, <i>Trigonisca</i> sp. 1, and <i>Trigonisca</i> 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.
ISSN:1424-2818