Plebeia (Plebeia), (PLEBEIA)

Rozen, Jerome G., Almeida, Eduardo A. B., Smith, Corey Shepard & Jones, Lance Eric, 2021, Intratribal Variation among Mature Larvae of Stingless Bees (Apidae: Meliponini) with Descriptions of the Eggs of 11 Species, American Museum Novitates 2021 (3971) : -

PLEBEIA (PLEBEIA) “ NAN2 ”

Figure 14

The substantially shorter length of this mature larva in contrast to that of P. “nan1” (fig. 14) almost certainly indicates that it is as yet another unnamed species of Plebeia . Realizing that and recognizing that they had substantially different body sizes, J.G.R. contacted Roubik in an attempt to confirm the understanding of the relationship and nesting behaviors of these two species. His response: “Yes, both in the same tree, and Yasuní Scientific Station continues to be the only place I have found their nests. The second species [P. “nan2”] was found by me for the first time about a year ago.”

MATERIAL STUDIED: 20+ postdefecating, defecating and predefecating larvae: Ecuador, Francisco de Orellana Prov., Yasuni Scientific Field Station, Pontifica Universidad Católica del Ecuador, -0.8659, -76.3953. Dec. 10, 2019. D. Roubik .