''Austroplebeia'' is a

stingless bee Stingless bees (SB), sometimes called stingless honey bees or simply meliponines, are a large group of bees (from about 462 to 552 described species), comprising the Tribe (biology), tribe Meliponini (or subtribe Meliponina according to other aut ...

(

Meliponini Stingless bees (SB), sometimes called stingless honey bees or simply meliponines, are a large group of bees (from about 462 to 552 described species), comprising the Tribe (biology), tribe Meliponini (or subtribe Meliponina according to other aut ...

) genus in the family

Apidae Apidae is the largest family within the superfamily Apoidea, containing at least 5700 species of bees. The family includes some of the most commonly seen bees, including bumblebees and honey bees, but also includes stingless bees (also used for ...

. The genus was erected by

Jesus Santiago Moure Jesus Santiago Moure (born 2 November 1912 in Ribeirão Preto, died on 10 July 2010 in Batatais) was a Brazilian entomologist who specialised in Hymenoptera Hymenoptera is a large order of insects, comprising the sawflies, wasps, bees, and ...

in 1961.BioStorBHLResearchGate Publication 313186394
/ref> The genus comprises five described species endemic to Australia and New Guinea. ''Austroplebeia'' are more closely related to the African stingless bees than rest of the species found in Asia and Australia. The species of ''Austroplebeia'' are difficult to separate reliably by body size or morphology except for '' A. cincta'' which can be distinguished readily by its colouration and pilosity. There are also few differences in their nest structures. This has hindered taxonomic studies to date and no workable key exists for the ''Austroplebeia'' species. All species are small, black and robust (length: 3.0–4.9 mm) and differ from other stingless bee species that co-occur in the same region (i.e. ''

Tetragonula ''Tetragonula'' is a genus of stingless bees. In 1961, Brazilian bee expert J.S. Moure first proposed the genus name ''Tetragonula'' to improve the classification system by dividing the large genus ''Trigona'' stingless bees into 9 smaller grou ...

'', '' Platytrigona'', '' Papuatrigona'') by the presence of cream or yellow markings in their head and thorax. Most species construct their nests largely from wax, unlike most stingless bees, they use propolis sparingly. They construct a fine, lacy curtain of resin droplets over their nest entrance at night in order to protect against ants and other predators. In Australia, people keep these bees in logs or wooden hives made of boxes. They show potential as pollinators of both field and greenhouse crops

Species

In alphabetical order:ResearchGate Publication 284403872
/ref> * ''

Austroplebeia australis ''Austroplebeia australis'' (previously and originally known as ''Trigona australis'') is a stingless bee species in the tribe Meliponini first validly described by Heinrich Friese in 1898. Within Australia, they are occasionally referred to as bu ...

'' (

Friese Friese is a surname. Notable people with the name include: * Christian-Peter Friese, (1948-1970), victim at the Berlin wall * Donald Friese (born 1940), American billionaire businessman * Friedemann Friese (born 1970), German board game designe ...

, 1898) * ''

Austroplebeia cassiae ''Austroplebeia cassiae'' is a small eusocial stingless bee first described by Cockerell in 1910 and it is found in Australia (North and Eastern Queensland). Etymology The name 'cassiae' was given because the first specimens were collected fr ...

'' (

Cockerell Cockerell is a surname, and may refer to: People * Allan Cockerell (1891–1975), New Zealand soldier and politician * Catherine Cockerell Cobb (1903–1995), British jeweler, silversmith, daughter of Douglas *Charles Robert Cockerell (1788–1863 ...

, 1910) * ''

Austroplebeia cincta ''Austroplebeia cincta'' is a small eusocial stingless bee first described by Mocsáry in 1898Mocsáry ''in'' and it is found across Australia (far North Queensland), West Papua, and Papua New Guinea (East and Centre). Description and identif ...

'' ( Mocsáry, 1898) * ''

Austroplebeia essingtoni ''Austroplebeia essingtoni'' is a small eusocial stingless bee first described by Cockerell in 1905 and it is found in Australia (Northern areas of Western Australia and Northern Territory). They are one of the smallest stingless bees in Austra ...

'' (Cockerell, 1905) * ''

Austroplebeia fujianica ''Austroplebeia'' is a stingless bee (Meliponini) genus in the family Apidae. The genus was erected by Jesus Santiago Moure in 1961.

'' ( Engel, 2021) * ''

Austroplebeia magna ''Austroplebeia magna'' is a small eusocial stingless bee Stingless bees (SB), sometimes called stingless honey bees or simply meliponines, are a large group of bees (from about 462 to 552 described species), comprising the Tribe (biology), tr ...

'' (Dollin, Dollin, & Rasmussen, 2015)

Gallery

File:A.cinctaface.png, ''A. cincta'' (New Guinea population) worker face. Scale bar = 0.25 mm File:A.cinctaqldface.png, ''A. cincta'' (Queensland population) worker face. Scale bar = 0.25 mm File:Aessingtoniface.png, ''A. essingtoni'' worker face. Scale bar = 0.25 mm File:Aaustralis.png, ''A. australis'' worker face. Scale bar = 0.25 mm File:Acassiaeface.png, ''A. cassiae'' worker face. Scale bar = 0.25 mm File:Amagnaface.png, ''A. magna'' worker face. Scale bar = 0.25 mm

References

External links

"Meet the ''Austroplebeia'' species"''Austroplebeia cincta''
Meliponini Bee genera {{Apinae-stub