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Description of an ancient social bee trapped in amber using diagnostic radioentomology

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Abstract

The application of non-invasive imaging technologies using X-radiation (diagnostic radioentomology, ‘DR’) is demonstrated for the study of amber-entombed social bees. Here, we examine the external and internal morphology of an Early Miocene (Burdigalian) stingless bee (Apinae: Meliponini) from the Dominican Republic using non-destructive X-ray microtomography analysis. The study permits the accurate reconstruction of features otherwise obscured or impossible to visualize without destroying the sample and allows diagnosis of the specimen as a new species, Proplebeia adbita Greco and Engel.

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Acknowledgments

This work is dedicated to the memory of Prof. J.M.F. Camargo, leading authority on the systematics of stingless bees and who had initially participated in this work, suggesting that the specimen belonged to a new species. We regret his untimely passing. The authors would like also to thank Giuliana Tromba, Lucia Mancini and Nicola Sodini for their contribution to the experimental work. We are grateful to DISECT Systems Ltd for donating their 3D rendering and telelinking software for this study, and to the two anonymous reviewers for their positive feedback on an earlier draft of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. INVERT Group, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Bath, Bath, BA2 7AY, UK

    M. K. Greco

  2. Departement für Klinische Veterinärmedizin, Vetsuisse-Fakultät, Universität Bern, 3001, Bern, Switzerland

    M. K. Greco

  3. Swiss Bee Research Centre, Agroscope Liebefeld-Posieux Research Station (ALP), 3033, Bern, Switzerland

    P. Gallmann

  4. Institute for Surgical Technology and Biomechanics, University of Bern, 3014, Bern, Switzerland

    P. M. Welz & S. J. Ferguson

  5. Bone Biology Group, Department of Clinical Research, University of Bern, 3010, Bern, Switzerland

    M. Siegrist

  6. Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Ancón, Republic of Panama

    D. W. Roubik

  7. Division of Entomology (Paleoentomology), Natural History Museum, Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, 1501 Crestline Drive-Suite 140, Lawrence, KS, 66049-2811, USA

    M. S. Engel

  8. Division of Invertebrate Zoology (Entomology), American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY, 10024-5192, USA

    M. S. Engel

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  1. M. K. Greco
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Greco, M.K., Welz, P.M., Siegrist, M. et al. Description of an ancient social bee trapped in amber using diagnostic radioentomology. Insect. Soc. 58, 487–494 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00040-011-0168-8

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