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

Abstract

Meliponines, popularly known as stingless bees, present a great diversity of species widely distributed in tropical regions. Some species are rationally reared to obtain bee products like honey, pollen and wax, and most of them are important pollinators of the native and cultivated fl ora in Brazil. Nevertheless, stingless bees are little investigated in their natural range throughout the country, especially in NE Brazil. This work is the fi rst comprehensive survey sampling stingless bee species throughout the state of Ceará investigating their occurrence and distribution in different phytoecological units. In this sense, the study evaluated the species richness; the distribution in the diverse types of vegetation and relief formations; and reviewed the list of species with occurrence already described and incorporated 20 new occurrences for Ceará, increasing the number of species reported to the state from 29 to 49. We also indicate rare species and those once common but presently threatened mainly due to habitat loss, demonstrating the need of conservation efforts and potential for sustainable exploitation of these bee species and their habitats through meliponiculture. It also shed light in the potential richness of stingless bee species in NE Brazil.

Overview of Stingless Bees in Brazil (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Meliponini)

“…The data presented here are in agreement with CamaRgo et al (2013) JaRamillo et al 2019;nogueiRa 2016;nogueiRa et al 2017nogueiRa et al , 2019nogueiRa et al , 2020anogueiRa et al , 2020bnogueiRa et al , 2021nogueiRa et al , 2022anogueiRa et al , 2022bguevaRa et al 2020;oliveiRa et al 2020;alvaRez et al 2021;alves et al 2021;engel 2021a, 2021bengel et al 2021;Felix & FReitas 2021;baRRos et al 2022;engel 2022a, 2022b, 2022c, 2022dFeRReiRa et al 2022;RibeiRo et al 2023).…”

Bee richness and abundance in small fruit farms from semiarid landscape, NE, Brazil

“…Due to the fragmentation and degradation of near-and semi-natural habitats, habitat loss is probably detrimental to these bees in the study site (Kleinert & Giannini, 2012). In semiarid Caatinga deforestation and selective logging (Felix & Freitas, 2021) are pointed to as important drivers of bee population decline in semiarid regions (Viana et al, 2014). In our study, a possible explanation for the negative effect of landscape diversity on bee abundance relates to the low quality of habitats, mainly composed of annual crops and pastures for livestock.…”

Abelhas Sem Ferrão (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Meliponini) Da Trilha Do Sol, Capitólio-Mg

“…O transporte e a criação de colônias são restritos a áreas de ocorrência natural da espécie de acordo com a PORTARIA Nº 665, de 3 de novembro de 2021 (ICMBio, 2021). É aconselhável que interessados pela meliponicultura, criem espécies de ocorrência natural na área, para evitar transportar e criar espécies exóticas de abelhas sem ferrão na região, impedindo a competição por recursos florais e locais de nidificação; transmissão de patógenos e extinção de espécies nativas, vindo ocasionar uma alteração da biota (FELIX;FREITAS, 2021, SILVA et al, 2017. Para transportar as abelhas sem ferrão de uma região para outra, que não seja de ocorrência natural da espécie, deve-se submeter ao órgão competente como o IBAMA, analisando os riscos que podem ocasionar segundo a Resolução nº 496, de 19 de agosto de 2020 (CONAMA, 2020).…”

“…Essas abelhas apresentam como principais características: a presença de um ferrão vestigial; redução da venação das asas e presença de penicilo na tíbia posterior (GRÜTER, 2020;MICHENER, 2007;OLIVEIRA et al, 2013). São abelhas eussociais e algumas espécies são manejadas para produção de mel, educação ambiental, na polinização de culturas ao ar livre e em estufas (FELIX;FREITAS, 2021;QUEZADA-EUÁN, 2018;PAZ, 2012).…”