Richness and distribution of the meliponine fauna (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Meliponini) in the State of Ceará, Brazil

Abstract

Meliponines, popularly known as stingless bees, present a great diversity of species widely distributed in tropical regions. Some species are rationally reared to obtain bee products like honey, pollen and wax, and most of them are important pollinators of the native and cultivated flora in Brazil. Nevertheless, stingless bees are little investigated in their natural range throughout the country, especially in NE Brazil. This work is the first comprehensive survey sampling stingless bee species throughout the state of Ceará investigating their occurrence and distribution in different phytoecological units. In this sense, the study evaluated the species richness; the distribution in the diverse types of vegetation and relief formations; and reviewed the list of species with occurrence already described and incorporated 20 new occurrences for Ceará, increasing the number of species reported to the state from 29 to 49. We also indicate rare species and those once common but presently threatened mainly due to habitat loss, demonstrating the need of conservation efforts and potential for sustainable exploitation of these bee species and their habitats through meliponiculture. It also shed light in the potential richness of stingless bee species in NE Brazil.

Key words
bee diversity; bee conservation; meliponiculture; stingless bees