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Mexican Stingless Bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae): Diversity, Distribution, and Indigenous Knowledge

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Abstract

Stingless bees (Apinae: Meliponini) are highly eusocial apine bees commonly encountered in tropical and subtropical areas of the world but are more diverse in the Western Hemisphere. In Mexico, stingless bees represent a relatively small fraction (2.6%) of the large bee fauna of the country, but the economic, social, and cultural impacts they have are like no other in the world. When compared to other countries with more diverse stingless bee faunas, a large percentage (41.3%) of the total number of Mexican stingless bees are exploited by indigenous people in the country at least since pre-Colombian times and possibly well before. Stingless bees played a significant role in Mayan religious views and today they are directly or indirectly used for diverse purposes, including managed pollination, medicine, crafts, and folk art; while honey, wax, and pollen are regularly extracted and sold, thus providing an important source of income for indigenous and non-indigenous populations. Herein, we summarize the diversity, distribution, origin, and traditional uses of the stingless bees in Mexico. We also discuss the challenges and future directions for the study and conservation of this important lineage of bees.

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Acknowledgments

We are indebted to Amy Comfort de Gonzalez, Claus Rasmussen, David W Roubik, Miguel Ortega, and Silvia RM Pedro for constructive comments and suggestions that improved this contribution, to Patricia Vit for inviting us to contribute to the present chapter, and to Carlos Balboa, Jorge Mérida, and Manuel Guzman for the images of Melipona and Scaptotrigona. Partial support was provided by US National Science Foundation grant DBI-1057366 (to MSE). This is a contribution of the Division of Entomology, University of Kansas Natural History Museum.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Estación de Biología Chamela, Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Apartado Postal 21, San Patricio, Jalisco, 48980, Mexico

    Ricardo Ayala

  2. Southwestern Oklahoma State University, Biological Sciences, Weatherford, USA

    Victor H. Gonzalez

  3. Division of Entomology, Natural History Museum, University of Kansas, 1501 Crestline Drive – Suite 140, Lawrence, KS, 66045, USA

    Michael S. Engel

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  1. Ricardo Ayala
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Correspondence to Ricardo Ayala .

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  1. Zumba Sur, University of the Andes, Villa Del Rio 8, Merida, 5101, Venezuela

    Patricia Vit

  2. Av. Bandeirantes, 3900, Ribeirão Preto, 14040-901, São Paulo, Brazil

    Silvia R. M. Pedro

  3. Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Ancon, Panama

    David Roubik

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Ayala, R., Gonzalez, V.H., Engel, M.S. (2013). Mexican Stingless Bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae): Diversity, Distribution, and Indigenous Knowledge. In: Vit, P., Pedro, S., Roubik, D. (eds) Pot-Honey. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-4960-7_9

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