From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Genus of bees
Melipona is a
genus of
stingless bees , widespread in warm areas of the
Neotropics , from
Sinaloa and
Tamaulipas (México) to
Tucumán and
Misiones (Argentina). About 70
species are known.
[1] The largest producer of honey from Melipona bees in Mexico is in the state of
Yucatán where bees are studied at an interactive park called "Bee Planet" which is within the
Cuxtal Ecological Reserve .
[2]
Several species are kept for
honey production, such as in
Brazil , where some are well-known enough to have common names, including uruçu , mandaçaia , jandaíra , and manduri . Melipona honey has long been used by humans and now is of minor commercial importance. Research is going on in improved beekeeping techniques.
Subtaxa
The following are some proposed
subtaxa of Melipona , although they are not yet widely used.
[3]
Selected taxa
The genus includes the following species:
[3]
Melipona amazonica (Schulz, 1905)
Melipona asilvai (
Moure , 1971)
Melipona baeri (Vachal, 1904)
Melipona beecheii (Bennett, 1831)
Melipona belizeae (Schwarz, 1932)
Melipona bicolor (Lepeletier, 1836) – guarupu, guaraipo
Melipona boliviana (Schwarz, 1932)
Melipona brachychaeta (Moure, 1950)
Melipona bradleyi (Schwarz, 1932) (Melipona illustris (Schwarz, 1932))
Melipona capixaba (Moure & Camargo, 1995)
Melipona captiosa (Moure, 1962)
Melipona carrikeri (Cockerell, 1919)
Melipona colimana (Ayala, 1999)
Melipona compressipes (Fabricius, 1804) – tiúba
Melipona compressipes manaosensis – jupará
Melipona costaricaensis (Cockerell, 1919)
Melipona cramptoni (Cockerell, 1920)
Melipona crinita (Moure & Kerr, 1950)
Melipona dubia (Moure & Kerr, 1950)
Melipona eburnea (Friese, 1900)
Melipona fasciata (Latreille, 1811)
Melipona fasciculata (Smith, 1854)
Melipona favosa (Fabricius, 1798)
Melipona fuliginosa (Lepeletier, 1836)
Melipona flavolineata (Friese, 1900)
Melipona fulva (Lepeletier, 1836)
Melipona fuscata (Lepeletier, 1836)
Melipona fuscopilosa (Moure & Kerr, 1950)
Melipona fuscipes (Latreille, 1811)
Melipona grandis (Guérin-Méneville, 1844)
Melipona illota (Cockerell, 1919)
Melipona indecisa (Cockerell, 1919)
Melipona interrupta (Latreille, 1811) – jandaíra
Melipona lateralis (Erichson, 1848)
Melipona lupitae (Ayala, 1999)
Melipona mandacaia (Smith, 1863)
Melipona marginata (Lepeletier, 1836) – manduri, manduri menor, mandurim, minduri, gurupu-do-miúdo, taipeira
Melipona melanopleura (Cockerell, 1919)
Melipona melanoventer (Schwarz, 1932)
Melipona merrillae (Cockerell, 1919)
Melipona micheneri (Schwarz, 1951)
Melipona mimetica (Cockerell, 1914)
Melipona mondury (Smith, 1863)
Melipona nebulosa (Camargo, 1988)
Melipona nigrescens (Friese, 1900)
Melipona obscurior (Moure, 1971)
Melipona ogilviei (Schwarz, 1932)
Melipona orbignyi (Guérin-Méneville, 1844)
Melipona panamica (Cockerell, 1919)
Melipona paraensis (Ducke, 1916)
Melipona peruviana (Friese, 1900)
Melipona puncticollis (Friese, 1902)
Melipona quadrifasciata (Lepeletier, 1836) – mandaçaia, amanaçaia, manaçaia, "uruçu"
Melipona quinquefasciata (Lepeletier, 1836) – mandaçaia-da-terra, mandaçaia-do-chão, uruçu-do-chão
Melipona rufescens (Friese, 1900 )
Melipona ruficrus – irapuá
Melipona rufiventris (Lepeletier, 1836) – uruçu-amarela, tuiuva, tujuba, bugia
M. r. paraensis – uruçu-boca-de-ralo
Melipona salti (Schwarz, 1932)
Melipona schwarzi (Moure, 1963)
Melipona scutellaris (Latreille, 1811) – uruçu-nordestina, "uruçu"
Melipona seminigra (Friese, 1903)
M. s. atrofulva
M. s. abunensis
M. s. merrillae – boca-de-renda
M. s. pernigra
Melipona solani (Cockerell, 1912)
Melipona subnitida (Ducke, 1911) – jandaíra
Melipona titania (Gribodo, 1893)
Melipona torrida (Friese, 1917)
Melipona triplaridis (Cockerell, 1925)
Melipona tumupasae (Schwarz, 1932)
Melipona variegatipes (Gribodo, 1893)
Melipona yucatanica (Camargo, Moure & Roubik, 1988)
See also
References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to
Melipona .