Geometric morphometrics of wing venation to differentiates new species of Scaura Schwarz populations (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Meliponini)

Abstract

Scaura Schwarz, 1938 is a small Neotropical genus of stingless bees widely distributed in Brazil. The new species of Scaura is a widespread species, and its wide distribution may suggest that it is a species complex. In order to differentiate populations that could compose cryptic species, we studied the wing venation variation using geometric morphometrics in 56 workers, 23 of these from remaining of Atlantic Forest in Ceará state and 33 from the Amazon region. Bees from Atlantic Forest differed of the bees from Amazon region, corresponding to 38.05% of total variation (principal components analysis), 100% of canonical variation and 52.93% of canonical variation between localities, with significant difference between populations in discriminant function analysis (p<0.001). The results suggest that the Atlantic Forest bees may be a new species. However, it is necessary more detailed morphological studies, and/or a molecular analysis to confirm this possibility.

Richness and distribution of the meliponine fauna (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Meliponini) in the State of Ceará, Brazil

“…In the case of the species Scaura cearensis, it was found only in the Meruoca mountain range, a formation with an altitude of 700 -900 meters and characteristics of wet forest, surrounded by the Sertaneja Depression lowlands (Caatinga Vegetation on Crystalline Relief) on all sides, that may have acted as a natural barrier causing the geographic isolation of this group of bees of the genus Scaura, which for a long time under the environmental characteristics of this region allowed for speciation (Nogueira et al 2019b). Residual massifs such as those of the Meruoca and the Baturité mountain ranges originated from orogenic and erosion processes can function as refuges and also allow the emergence of new animal species (Mantovani 2007, Brandão & Freitas 2014.…”

DNA barcodes reveal striking arthropod diversity and unveil seasonal patterns of variation in the southern Atlantic Forest

“…The Atlantic Forest is one of the most diverse Neotropical habitats, harbouring around 7% of the world’s known flora and fauna [ 23 , 24 ]. It hosts more than 20,000 species of plants, about 1,500 species of terrestrial vertebrates, and an undetermined number of invertebrates (mainly arthropods), many undescribed [ 24 – 30 ]. In addition, and in spite of its cycles of connection and disconnection with other Neotropical forests (Andean Forest, Amazonian Forest; [ 31 – 34 ]), more than 8,000 plants and 550 vertebrates are endemic to the Atlantic Forest, so it hosts almost 5% of all known endemic species [ 35 – 37 ].…”

Wing Phenotypic Diversity in Stingless Bees Genera (Apidae: Meliponini) From Ecuador Amazonia

“…From each specimen, the right fore wing was removed, and from the bottom, the microscope slide was mounted with Euparal medium, and photographed (Fig. 1), at the same scale (dos Santos et al, 2009;Nogueira et al, 2019). From each slide 11 anatomical landmarks (Lm), were digitized (Fig.…”

“…With this tool, it is possible to discriminate and separate taxonomic groups through the shape, describing the differences using landmark displacements. Several studies have already shown the application of geometric morphometry as an efficient method of differentiation between closely related bee taxa (Combey et al, 2013;Vijayakumar and Jayaraj, 2013;Rattanawannee et al, 2015;Nogueira et al, 2019;dos Santos et al, 2009a;dos Santos et al, 2019b).…”