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

Abstract

To characterize the populational diversity of Mourella caerulea, an endemic stingless bee from the Pampa biome, we collected workers of the stingless bee Mourella caerulea from 24 colonies of five localities in Southern Brazil and analyzed it using geometric morphometrics of forewings, mtDNA cytochrome oxidase I variability, and cuticular hydrocarbon (CHC) chemical analysis. The morphometric analysis discriminated the populations of M. caerulea from different physiographic regions. There was a positive correlation between morphometric and geographic distances. CHC profiles also differentiated the colonies from different localities. We found six particular haplotypes, nucleotide diversity (π) of 0.01631, and a haplotype diversity (Hd) of 0.74. In this sense, the comparison of the population belonging to different physiographic regions indicates that we need to give particular attention to M. caerulea at the moment of creating conservation strategies for South Brazilian Fauna, once it is the only species of this monospecific genus, and its populations are much differentiated from each other.