Bulletin of Pure & Applied Sciences- Zoology
  • Year: 2017
  • Volume: 36a
  • Issue: 1

Morphometric analysis of Tetragonula iridipennis (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in Coimbatore district, Tamilnadu, India

Department of Zoology, Kongunadu Arts and Science College, Coimbatore-29, Tamilnadu, India

*Corresponding Author: K. Vijayakumar, Department of Zoology, Kongunadu Arts and Science College, Coimbatore-29, Tamilnadu, India, E-mail: knvijgs@gmail.com

Online published on 19 August, 2017.

Abstract

This study investigated the level of morphometric variability among the stingless bee populations in Coimbatore district, Tamilnadu, India. A total of 16 morphometric characters was measured and analyzed to detect the morphometric variations among T. iridipennis. Data were subjected to multivariate analysis to evaluate population variation within T. iridipennis. The variables in the present study displayed statistically significant differences among groups (P > 0.05). The present study find out the three distinct morphocluster within T. iridipennis based on principal component analysis.

Keywords

Meliponini, Tetragonula, morphometry, multivariate analysis