Tetragonula gressitti ( Sakagami, 1978 )

Rathor, Vikram S., Rasmussen, Claus & Saini, Malkiat S., 2013, New record of the stingless bee Tetragonula gressitti from India (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Meliponini), Journal of Melittology 7, pp. 1-5 : 3-4

Tetragonula gressitti ( Sakagami, 1978)

( Figs. 1–10 , Table 1)

DIAGNOSIS: Workers of this species are conspicuous amongst other species of Tetragonula by the melanism of its body and the relatively long and black scape ( Figs. 1, 2, 8 ). All other species of Tetragonula are testaceous to ferruginous throughout. Additional distinctive characters ( Figs. 1–9 ) are the pubescence and integumental sculpturing, as described by Sakagami (1978). Dimensions (Appendix, vide infra): Head 1.1x wider than long, compound eye 2.7x longer than wide and approximately subparallel ( Fig. 2 ), metabasitarsus 1.4x longer than wide and 0.7x metatibia width ( Figs. 3, 4 ).

MATERIAL EXAMINED: INDIA (4 workers): 3♀♀, Arunachal Pradesh (30 km from Pashighat, District Lower Dibang Valley ), 01.iv.2010, 28°13’N 95°15’E, 550 m a.s.l., coll. V. S. Rathor ; 1♀, Hunli ( District Lower Dibang Valley ), 30.iv.2011, 28°17’N 95°82’E, 1325 m a.s.l., coll. V. S. Rathor. Vouchers are deposited in the collection of the Punjabi University Zoological Museum and personal collection of Claus Rasmussen .

NEW RECORD: India: Hunli ( Figs. 10 , 11 ) and Pashighat, Lower Dibang Valley district of Arunachal Pradesh in the extreme northeastern Himalayan region, close to China.

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION: This species was previously known from three localities in southern Vietnam (Lâm Đồng Province in the central highlands) (vide Sakagami, 1978).

NESTING BIOLOGY: Unknown.

MALE: Known from Vietnam ( Sakagami, 1978), but not yet recorded from India.

COMMENTS: Four worker specimens of T. gressitti are here reported for the first time from India, extending the known range approximately 2000 km to the northwest of the type locality. The external morphology and measurements of these specimens closely agree with the original description of T. gressitti . However, the whereabouts of the type specimens of T. gressitti are unknown ( Rasmussen, 2008) and the identity of these Indian specimens remain to be confirmed. Additional collections and molecular or comparative studies of the male genitalia may confirm if this is the same species, otherwise not reported from outside Vietnam. While it is known that the stingless bee fauna of India is rather small, additional species are to be expected, in particular from poorly sampled regions or areas adjacent to the otherwise more species-rich fauna of Southeast Asia.

Figures

Figure 11. Distribution records of Tetragonula gressitti (Sakagami). Circles are records of the type series from Sakagami (1978) and squares represent the new records reported herein.

Figures 1–10. Worker of Tetragonula gressitti (Sakagami). 1. Lateral habitus. 2. Frontal view of head. 3, 4. Outer and inner views of metatibia and metabasitarsus. 5. Forewing. 6. Hamuli of hind wing. 7. Hind wing. 8. Antennal scape, pedicel, and basal flagellomeres. 9. Outer view of mandible. 10. Collection site in India, Arunachal Pradesh, Hunli.