Ovos produzidos por rainhas e operárias de Scaptotrigona depilis (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Meliponina): Morfometria e aspectos relacionados

Abstract

The morphometric characterization of 785 eggs laid by queens and 193 (161 functional and 32 trophic eggs) laid by workers of Scaptotrigona depilis (Moure, 1942) has shown that they are similar in size and shape to the ones from other species of Meliponina. In the same colony, the queen's eggs always presented significant smaller size than the ones of the workers (functional or trophic). Among the workers' eggs, the functional eggs were, usually, shorter and narrower than the trophic eggs. The study of eggs laid by the queen has not shown, as expected, the presence of two groups of eggs with distinctive length, as observed in S. postica (Latreille, 1807).