Banca de DEFESA: RAMON LIMA RAMOS
Uma banca de DEFESA de MESTRADO foi cadastrada pelo programa.DISCENTE : RAMON LIMA RAMOS
DATA : 30/08/2021
HORA: 14:00
LOCAL: Plataforma Google Meet https://meet.google.com/uma-sysn-ydm
TÍTULO:
Unraveling the species complex of the fire bee Oxytrigona tataira (Smith, 1863) (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Meliponini): an integrative approach.
PALAVRAS-CHAVES:
Anthophila, Geometric morphometry of wings, Morphological study, Species distribution modeling, New species, Stingless bee, Taxonomy.
PÁGINAS: 130
GRANDE ÁREA: Ciências Biológicas
ÁREA: Zoologia
SUBÁREA: Taxonomia dos Grupos Recentes
RESUMO:
Despite the crisis that taxonomy has been facing, with reduced financial and personnel resources, and a huge deficit in the training of new taxonomists, every year, all over the world, thousands of species are described and named. Much of this progress is possible thanks to the incorporation and integration of new technological tools into traditional descriptive taxonomic works. After more than 250 years of hegemonic use of morphological data, currently new methods and data to delimit, discover and identify species are gaining a lot of space in the field of traditional taxonomy, including molecular, biogeographic and ecological analyses, being complementary to morphological ones. This approach is defined as integrative taxonomy (combination between different sources of evidence). The integrative approach is particularly useful in the study of biodiversity hotspots, such as diverse environments in tropical regions, as well as in the study of groups that are known to have a high number of cryptic species, such as the stingless eusocial bees (Tribe Meliponini). An interesting case is that of the fire bee Oxytrigona tataira (Smith, 1863), which has the species O. cagafogo (Müller, 1874) as its junior synonym, however the researcher who proposed the synonymy did not mention what evidence led him to make such a decision. Furthermore, the original description of this species is very succinct and the indication of the type locality is incomplete, only the country where the specimens were collected is informed, in this case Brazil. This species in question is considered by different taxonomists as a species of complex taxonomy, of dubious status and in need of taxonomic reassessment. In this sense, we use an integrative approach, combining morphological study, wing geometric morphometry analysis and species distribution modeling, to unveil the true identity of O. tataira. For the morphological study, 923 specimens of Oxytrigona from 14 Brazilian states were studied. The Lectotype of Trigona tataira Smith, 1863 (= O. tataira) was also examined. The type material of Trigona cagafogo Müller, 1874 (= O. cagafogo) cannot be examined as it is lost. However, specimens collected in Blumenau - Santa Catarina, located approximately 40Km from the type locality of O. cagafogo, which corresponds to Itajaí - Santa Catarina, were studied. For the wing geometric morphometry analysis, the right anterior wing of 10 workers from 47 colonies sampled was used, making a total of 470 analyzed wings. For the modeling of species distribution, the occurrence records of all Oxytrigona specimens studied were used, which corresponded to 106 unique occurrence records, and the environmental variables were downloaded from an online database. All specimens examined in the present study were sampled in places where the natural occurrence of O. tataira and O. cagafogo has been reported in the literature. In the morphological study, we identified three distinct morphotypes. Morphotype 1 is restricted to the north of the Northeast Region and north of Tocantins State (recognized as the North region), occurring in the phytogeographic domains of Caatinga and Cerrado and also in Mata Atlântica enclaves that exist in the highlands of Ceará. Morphotype 2 is widely distributed in the Mata Atlântica phytogeographic domain, from the south of the country to the south of the Northeast, however, in the states of Bahia and Minas Gerais, it enters the Caatinga and Cerrado domains. And morphotype 3 occurs in the Southeast and South of the country, present in the Southeast in an ecotone area (Mata Atlântica - Cerrado) and in the South in an Mata Atlântica area. The results of the wing geometric morphometric analysis (Canonical Variable Analysis, Mahalanobis Distance and Discriminant Functions) corroborate the morphological study, with the delimitation of three groups (three morphotypes). As well as with the results of the species distribution modeling, although a small overlap was observed between part of the niches of morphotypes 1 and morphotype 2. Morphotype 1 corresponds to the species Oxytrigona tataira Smith (1863), whose studied specimens agree perfectly with the discretion provided by Smith (1863) and also with the type specimen of Trigona tataira Smith, 1863, which is deposited at the BMNH. Morphotype 2 corresponds to the species Oxytrigona cagafogo (Müller, 1874), which differs consistently from O. tataira, and morphologically agrees perfectly with the description provided by Müller (1874), for which we propose the revalidation of its status taxonomic as a valid species. And morphotype 3 that has consistent differences from the two previous ones and does not agree with the description of any species of Oxytrigona formally described to date, and, therefore, we are proposing in the present study as a new species for Oxytrigona.
MEMBROS DA BANCA:
Interna - 1299193 - ALESSANDRA SELBACH SCHNADELBACH
Externo à Instituição - FERNANDO CESAR VIEIRA ZANELLA
Externo à Instituição - TIAGO MAURICIO FRANCOY