Geometric morphometrics discriminates Eastern and Western populations of Partamona rustica (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Meliponini) separated by the São Francisco River

Abstract

Wing morphology has been used in taxonomic and systematic studies of insects, often enabling the identification of groups based on the variation. In this study, wing Geometric Morphometrics was used to verify if eastern and western populations of Partamona rustica, separated by the São Francisco River, are discriminated, thus confirming previous molecular data. The two groups of P. rustica exhibited significant differences in wing size and shape. Better differentiation of populations and groups was achieved with the centroid size. We generated dendrograms using Mahalanobis and Procrustes distances, which discriminated the eastern and western populations. Isolation by the distance between morphometric and geographic distances was found. The confirmation of the two population groups points out the need for further studies investigating the occurrence of barriers to gene flow and colonization history in the semiarid region by this stingless bee.

Keywords:

• geometric morphometrics
• population differentiation
• stingless bees
• semiarid region
• wing variation

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to Dr. Sílvia Regina de Menezes Pedro (FFCLRP - USP) for the taxonomic identification of the bees. The authors are grateful to the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) for the fellowships to VOS and to EAM (Process number 2019/14363-4 and 2012/23342-1, respectively) and for the financial support (Process 2011/21501-2).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP, Process 2011/21501-2).