Claus Rasmussen, clausr@life.uiuc.edu, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Department of Entomology, 320 Morril Hall, 505 S. Goodwin Av, Urbana, IL and Sydney A. Cameron, scameron@life.uiuc.edu, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Entomology, 320 Morrill Hall, 505 S. Goodwin Ave, Urbana, IL.
The relative few highly social bees represent a peak in the evolution of social living and sophisticated communication systems in insects. Such bees are represented predominantly by the honey bees (Apini) and the stingless bees (Meliponini).
The primary goal of this research is to obtain a strongly supported phylogeny of the world fauna of stingless bees. Accomplishing this goal will provide the necessary framework for better understanding the evolution of behavior in stingless bees and their relatives. A phylogeny would also elucidate their age of origin and ancestral distributions.
Results from ongoing work will be presented, including a phylogeny for most of the 60 genera and subgenera based on sequences of four gene fragments. The genes include a mitochondrial gene (16S rRNA) and three nuclear genes (EF-1alpha, opsin, and arginine kinase).
HYMENOPTERA Apidae
Melipona spSpecies 2: HYMENOPTERA Apidae
Trigona spKeywords: Biogeography, Phylogeny
