Rute Brito

Postdoctoral Fellow

Rute.brito@bio.usyd.edu.au

Room 253, Building A12

I am currently working on Australian stingless bees.

The stingless bees play a major ecological role by acting as pollinators. In Australia, the endemic Trigona carbonaria group of stingless bees comprises at least 4 similar species (T. carbonaria, T. hockingsi, T. davenporti and T. mellipes) whose identification is difficult due to morphological variations along latitudinal clines and the occurrence of sympatric species. Nest architecture is the primary means used for distinguishing the species. However it is not yet clarified if nest architecture is genetically or environmentally determined. My project aims to genetically analyze populations of T. carbonaria and T. hockingsi populations in south east Queensland in order to understand the genetic structure of the contact zone between the two species.

Also, I will test the relationships between patterns of brood comb construction and environmental characteristics through behavioral experiments in controlled temperature rooms. Understanding of the diversity of species within the Australian Trigona and its population structures in the hybrid zone will provide the new understanding of the evolutionary processes of speciation which have occurred in the group in the Indo-Pacific region, and a sound basis for conservation and potential domestication of the species for pollination purposes.