Melipona scutellaris

Melipona scutellaris is a eusocial stingless bee species of the order Hymenoptera and the genus Melipona. It is considered to be the reared Melipona species with the largest distribution in the North and Northeast regions of Brazil, with records from Rio Grande do Norte down to Bahia. Its common name, Uruçu, comes from the Tupi 'eiru su', which in this indigenous language means 'big bee'. Their honey is highly desirable and the materials they create for nests have been proven to be a promising source of antibiofilm agents and to present selectivity against human cancer cell lines at low concentrations compared to normal cells. M. scutellaris is a member of the family Apidae of eusocial bees within the order Hymenoptera, which consists of ants, bees, wasps, and sawflies. The subfamily Meliponini is commonly referred to as 'stingless bees.' It is one of 40 known species within the genus Melipona. M. scutellaris has the common name of 'uruçu-nordestina' (northeast uruçu) or 'uruçu-verdadeira' (true uruçu), usually shortened to just 'uruçu.' M. scutellaris workers of populations from different elevations show morphological differences. Workers from coastal colonies have a dark thorax, while workers from mountainous regions have a light thorax, both having five white stripes and grey hairs. This variation is associated with the humidity in those areas which influences the pigmentation. Its body is robust, the clypeus is slightly convex, and the face is relatively narrow. They are about 10 to 12 mm in length. M. scutellaris was one of the first bee species domesticated by Potiguara, Kiriri, Xucuru, Pataxó, Paiaku, Tupicuruba and Aymoré Indians. The Portuguese colonizers learned rearing techniques that led M. scutellaris to become one of the most frequently reared species of stingless bees in the Northeast.