A molecular phylogeny of the Old World stingless bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Meliponini) and the non‐monophyly of the large genus <i>Trigona</i>

Abstract

Abstract We examined the inter‐ and infrageneric relationships of Old World Meliponini with a near‐complete sampling of supra‐specific taxa. DNA sequences for the taxa were collected from four genes (mitochondrial 16S rRNA, nuclear long‐wavelength rhodopsin copy 1 (opsin), elongation factor‐1α copy F2 and arginine kinase). Additional sampling of New World taxa indicated that Trigona sensu lato is not monophyletic: Trigona from the Indo‐Malayan/Australasian Regions forms a large clade distantly related to the Neotropical Trigona . A separate clade comprises the Afrotropical meliponines, and includes the ‘minute’ species found in the Afrotropical, Indo‐Malayan and Australasian Regions. The Neotropical genus Melipona , by contrast with previous investigations, is not the sister lineage to the remaining stingless bees, but falls within the strongly supported Neotropical clade. These results constitute the framework for a revised classification and ongoing biological investigations of Meliponini. A single taxonomic change, Heterotrigona bakeri stat.n. , is proposed on the basis of sequence divergence.