Honey botanical origin of stingless bees (Apidae Meliponini) in the Nova América community of the Sateré Mawé indigenous tribe, Amazon, Brazil

Abstract

This study analysed the pollen present in honey samples collected from colonies of stingless bees (Meliponini) from the meliponary of the Nova América community of the Sateré Mawé tribe, located on the Maruá River, Maués municipality, Amazonas state, Brazil (03° 39ʹ 45.00″ S, 57° 20ʹ 17.99″ W). Collections were made directly from honey storage pots. A total of 47 pollen types were identified, belonging to 22 plant families. Bees with the largest number of pollen types were Melipona seminigra (31 collected pollen types), followed by Melipona sp. (27 pollen types), Scaptotrigona sp. (25 pollen types), and Melipona dubia (19 pollen types). Plant families most commonly collected were: Anacardiaceae, Arecaceae, Burseraceae, Chrysobalanaceae, Dichapetalaceae, Dilleniaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Fabaceae, Lecythidaceae, Melastomataceae, Myrtaceae, Rhamnaceae and Salicaceae. Scaptotrigona sp. had the highest pollen types diversity (H′ = 2.32) and, consequently, greatest between-collection uniformity. Trophic niche overlap was significant between the following pairs of bees: M. seminigra and M. dubia (Oi = 0.93); M. seminigra and Scaptotrigona sp. (Oi = 0.79) and M. dubia and Scaptotrigona sp. (Oi = 0.69). These data demonstrate the importance of these shared groups of plants for the maintenance of these bees and, consequently, for the development of meliponiculture in Brazilian Amazonia. © 2020, © 2020 Collegium Palynologicum Scandinavicum.