Trigona (Tetragonula)

Tetragonula is a genus of stingless bees. In 1961, Brazilian bee expert, Professor J.S. Moure, first proposed the genus name Tetragonula to improve the classification system by dividing the large genus Trigona stingless bees 9 smaller groups. About 30 stingless bee species formerly placed in the genus Trigona are now placed in the genus Tetragonula. These bees are found in Oceania, in countries such as Australia, Indonesia, New Guinea, Malaysia, Thailand, The Philippines, India, Sri Lanka, and The Solomon Islands.