Author(s):

Shubham Rao, Shashidhar Viraktamath and SS Shaw

Abstract: Stingless bees from three biogeographical regions of Chhattisgarh (Bastar plateau, Chhattisgarh plains and North hills) were collected and their morphometry was studied by selecting 37 morphological parameters to understand the diversity. The data were subjected to Principal Component analysis and Canonical Discriminant analysis. Bees from Chhattisgarh plains were bigger measuring 3.54 mm in length and 1.52 mm mm in head width compared to Bastar plateau (3.50 and 1.49 mm) and North hills (3.53 and 1.49 mm). Similarly, forewings were longer (3.61 mm) and wider (1.29 mm) in the bees from Chhattisgarh plains. Both Principal Component and Canonical Discriminant analysis resulted in overlapping but widely distributed clusters indicating greater variation among the bees of these three regions and existence of more than one species in Chhattisgarh. Further studies are needed to identify the species based on male bees and their genitalia.

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