Stingless bees are important pollinators of wild plants and crops. The identity of stingless bee species in Africa has not been fully documented. The present study explored the utility of morphometrics and DNA barcoding for identification of African stingless bee populations, and to further employ these tools to identify potential cryptic variation within species. Stingless bee samples were collected from three ecological zones, namely Kakamega Forest, Mwingi and Arabuko-Sokoke Forest, which are geographically distant and cover high, medium and low altitudes, respectively. Forewing and hind leg morphometric characters were measured to determine the extent of morphological variation between the populations. DNA ... More
Stingless bees are important pollinators of wild plants and crops. The identity of stingless bee species in Africa has not been fully documented. The present study explored the utility of morphometrics and DNA barcoding for identification of African stingless bee populations, and to further employ these tools to identify potential cryptic variation within species. Stingless bee samples were collected from three ecological zones, namely Kakamega Forest, Mwingi and Arabuko-Sokoke Forest, which are geographically distant and cover high, medium and low altitudes, respectively. Forewing and hind leg morphometric characters were measured to determine the extent of morphological variation between the populations. DNA barcodes were generated from the mitochondrial cytochrome c-oxidase I (COI) gene. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) on the morphometric measurements separated the bee samples into three clusters: (1) Meliponula bocandei; (2) Meliponula lendliana + Plebeina hildebrandti; (3) Dactylurina schmidti + Meliponula ferruginea black + Meliponula ferruginea reddish brown, but Canonical Variate Analysis (CVA) separated all the species except the two morphospecies (M. ferruginea reddish brown and black). The analysis of the COI sequences showed that DNA barcoding can be used to identify all the species studied and revealed remarkable genetic distance (7.3%) between the two M. ferruginea morphs. This is the first genetic evidence that M. ferruginea black and M. ferruginea reddish brown are separate species.
Las abejas sin aguijón son polinizadores importantes de las plantas silvestres y los cultivos. No se ha documentado completamente la identidad de las especies de abejas sin aguijón en África. Este estudio exploró la utilidad de la morfometría y el ADN barcoding para la identificación de poblaciones de abejas sin aguijón africanas, y el uso potencial de éstas herramientas para identificar la variación críptica intraespecífica. Las muestras de abejas sin aguijón se colectaron en tres zonas ecológicas: el bosque Kakamega, Mwingi y el bosque Arabuko-Sokoke, que son áreas geográficas distantes y cubren altitudes alta, media y baja, respectivamente. Se midieron los caracteres morfométricos del ala delantera y la pata trasera para determinar el rango de variación morfológica entre poblaciones. El ADN barcoding se generó a partir del gen mitocondrial citocromo c-oxidasa I (COI). El Análisis de Componentes Principales (ACP) de las medidas morfométricas separó las muestras de abejas en tres clusters: 1. Meliponula bocandei; 2. Meliponula lendliana + Plebeina hildrebandti; 3. Dactylurina schmidti + Meliponula ferruginea negra + Meliponula ferruginea marrón rojiza, pero el Análisis de Variables Canónicas (AVC) separó todas las especies excepto las dos morfoespecies (M. ferruginea marrón rojiza y negra). El análisis de las secuencias COI mostró que puede utilizarse el ADN barcoding para identificar todas las especies estudiadas y reveló una distancia genética notable (7.3%) entre los dos morfos de M. ferruginea. Esta es la primera evidencia genética de que M. ferruginea negra y M. ferruginea marrón rojiza son especies separadas.
