Melipona subnitida is a stingless bee of the family Apidae that lives in the dry areas of northeastern Brazil, where it is known for its honey, called jandaira honey. Colonies of several hundred to a thousand individuals nest inside the hollow trunks of living trees, building vertical columns of horizontal combs. Each colony has a single queen who mates once and lays the eggs, and her daughters care for the brood, guard the nest and forage. Workers are recognised by their obscure bands on the abdomen, lack of facial markings and tawny thoracic hairs. The bee is an important pollinator in the caatinga, mostly of the legume Mimosa caesalpiniifolia, and keepers manage it in artificial hives, even in cities. Wild colonies are harmed by destructive honey extraction and deforestation.
Facts
Classification
ThreatsBiological Resource Use 1 Relationship to PeopleFarmed or Commercially Raised 1 Relationship to People Connections
Child Taxon Of
Apidae, Taxa Source Melipona subnitida (Wikipedia)
In the Other Atlases
Found In
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Source Melipona subnitida (Wikipedia)LeadQuote, Lead
found in the dry areas of Northeastern Brazil
Sources
1. Melipona subnitida (Wikipedia)
Distribution and habitat
where they are thought to be an important pollinator and honey producer
Human importance, apiculture
Artificial colonies can be maintained by bee-keepers.
Distribution and habitat, colony decline
Causes of colony decline are the destructive extraction of colonies for profit, or from deforestation
Lead
found in the dry areas of Northeastern Brazil
Child Taxon Of: Apidae, Taxonomy and phylogeny
Melipona subnitida is part of the family Apidae.
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