Stingless bees
| Stingless bees | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Meliponula ferruginea | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Suborder: | Apocrita |
| Superfamily: | Apoidea |
| Family: | Apidae |
| Subfamily: | Apinae |
| Tribe: | Meliponini |
| Genera | |
|
Austroplebeia |
|
Austroplebeia
Cephalotrigona
Cleptotrigona
Dactylurina
Frieseomelitta
Hypotrigona
Lestrimelitta
Leurotrigona
Liotrigona
Lisotrigona
Melipona
Meliponula
Meliwillea
Nannotrigona
Nogueirapis
Oxytrigona
Paratrigona
Pariotrigona
Paratrigonoides
Partamona
Plebeia
Plebeina
Scaptotrigona
Subnitida
Tetragonisca
Tetragonula
Trichotrigona
Trigona
Trigonisca
Stingless bees, sometimes called stingless honey bees or simply meliponines, are a large group of bees (about 500 species), comprising the tribe Meliponini (or subtribe Meliponina according to other authors). They belong in the family Apidae, and are closely related to common honey bees, carpenter bees, orchid bees, and bumblebees. Meliponines have stingers, but they are highly reduced and cannot be used for defense. Meliponines are not the only type of "stingless" bee; all male bees and many female bees of several other families, such as Andrenidae, also cannot sting.
Stingless bees can be found in most tropical or subtropical regions of the world, such as Australia, Africa, Southeast Asia, and tropical America. The majority of native eusocial bees of Central and South America are stingless bees, although only a few of them produce honey on a scale such that they are farmed by humans. They are also quite diverse in Africa, including Madagascar, and are farmed there also; meliponine honey is prized as a medicine in many African communities, as well as in South America.
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Wikipedia