Genetic and morphometric variation in Schwarziana quadripunctata and Schwarziana mourei (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Meliponini)

Abstract

AbstractSchwarzianabees are a ground-nesting stingless bee distributed in the Neotropical region.Schwarziana quadripunctatawas the first described and the most studied species of this genus. Now, there are four valid species ofSchwarzianabees, but it has been suggested that the diversity of this taxon may be higher, due to undescribed cryptic species. In this study, we investigated the populational diversity ofS. quadripunctatausing workers collected at 11 localities in Brazil (from the Northeast to South region). We also included one population ofS. mourei(collected in São Paulo state, 2 nests). We analysed the bees using geometric morphometrics and molecular analyses amplifying mtDNA cytochrome oxidase I (COI) and 16S to access the diversity among the populations. From the results of geometric morphometrics, the Mahalanobis distances betweenS. moureiandS. quadripunctataare greater than those distances amongS. quadripunctatapopulations. A similar scenario can also be observed looking to the phylogenetic tree generated by the molecular markers. Morphometry and molecular markers data showed significant association with geographic distance, indicating the existence of intrapopulation variation inS. quadripunctata. Our hypothesis was supported, that the populations ofS. quadripunctatashowed differences in haplotypic diversity. Overall, these analyses revealed a moderate level of intraspecific variation amongS. quadripunctatapopulations and discriminated well the speciesS. quadripunctatafromS. mourei.