Morphological identification of stingless bees from Belitung

Abstract

Stingless bees, the smallest honey-producing bees, have high diversity with over 600 species in the world. Exploration at Bukit Barisan Sumatra found 23 species of stingless bees. However, stingless bee diversity in Belitung has not been explored and identified. This study aims to identify stingless bees based on morphology from Belitung. The methods used included the preservation of dry samples, characterization and identification of morphology based on: hind tibia, hind basitarsus, malar space, mandible, head, thorax, abdomen, and fore wing. A total of 12 stingless bee colonies were collected in Belitung. The study found three identified species of stingless bees in Belitung: Tetragonula laeviceps (colonies 1, 4, 5, 7, 8), Tetragonula aff. fuscobalteata (colonies 6, 11, 12), and Heterotrigona itama (colonies 2, 3, 9, 10). Body length, body color, eye color, abdominal color, mesoscutum, teeth in the mandible, malar space, wing length, wing venation and wing color are morphological characters that differentiate between the three species. Three morphometric parameters also differentiate between the three species, those are the width of hind basitarsus, malar space, and wing length. We also observed that T. aff. fuscobalteata show variations in the color of the eye and abdomen in all three colonies.