Stingless Bee (Meliponini sp)

About Stingless Bee (Meliponini sp)

• Kingdom: Animals
• Phylum: Arthropods
• Class: Insects
• Order: Bees, Wasps, and Ants
• Family: Hornets and Yellowjackets

Stingless bees (SB), sometimes called stingless honey bees or simply meliponines, are a large group of bees, comprising the tribe Meliponini. They belong in the family Apidae, and are closely related to common honey bees, orchid bees, and bumblebees. These four bee tribes belong to the corbiculate bees' monophyletic group. Meliponines have stingers, but they are highly reduced and cannot be used for defense, though these bees exhibit other defensive behaviors and mechanisms. Meliponines are not the only type of bee incapable of stinging: all male bees and many female bees of several other families, such as Andrenidae and Megachilidae, also cannot sting.