Morphology, Nest Architecture, Survival Temperature and Life Cycle of 4 Species of Domesticated Stingless Bees

Abstract

In this study, we investigated morphological characteristics, nest architecture, the optimum temperature for survival, and life cycles of 4 stingless bee species, including, Heterotrigona itama Cockerell, Lepidotrigona terminata Smith, Tetragonula iridipennis Smith and T. pagdeni Schwarz. The morphological study shows that H. itama has a large and black body with transparent wings. L. terminata usually has a thick scale-like mesonotum, bordered by yellow-brown hair. T. iridipennis and T. pagdeni both have six longitudinal hair bands on their mesoscutum. Anterior corbicular fringe area of T. iridipennis has dark but T. pagdeni has pale. In terms of nest architecture, H. itama and L. terminata have larger brood cell and storage pots than T. iridipennis and T. pagdeni, and the hive of H. itama has the largest volume of 700 cubic inches. T. iridipennis has the smallest hive volume at 247 cubic inches. The optimum temperature that affected the survival of the stingless bees was 30°C. The life cycles of H. itama, L. terminata, T. iridipennis and T. pagdeni from eggs to adults was 31.96, 40.50, 44.83 and 44.86 days, respectively.