‘Genetic diversity and conservation of native stingless bees (Hymenoptera: Meliponini) in the Mexican tropics’

José Serrano Marino, José Javier G. Quezada Euán, Luis Abdelmir Medina Medina, Mª Pilar De la Rúa Tarín, William de Jesús May Itzá.

We will study the genetic differences that have arisen between managed and wild populations of Melipona beecheii, as a result of their management and deforestation. This species is the best honey producer of all native bees and has been used since the time of the Aztecs.We will also analyse the phenotypic correlations associated to honey production in this species, in order to select suitable colonies for a conservation programme.The M. yucatanica species is divided into two metapopulations: one in the south of the Yucatan Peninsula and the other in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. It is not known whether this species is endemic to the Isthmus then colonised the Peninsula or the other way around. To reconstruct their evolutionary history, we will carry out a molecular and morphometric study comparing the profile of both metapopulations. This will allow us to detect their levels of genetic variability, which would theoretically be higher in the original population.