Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration

Species-level identification of insects is often difficult and can limit ecological studies, particularly those assessing insect biodiversity. Wing venation characteristics are fundamental for defining and classifying insects. Bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) have relatively conserved wing characteristics at the family, genus, and species level, but the patterns between groups remain poorly understood. In this study, we employed geometric morphometrics to assess variation in wing venation across bees taxa. Geometric morphometrics allows for detailed shape analysis of wing structure, which may provide insights into evolutionary relationships. By digitally landmarking nine homologous wing vein characters of a diverse sample of bees, we quantified and compared phenotypic variation across several recognized species, genera, and families in order to assess whether the resulting morphological clusters reflect evolutionary divergence. Preliminary results demonstrate the ability to differentiate species within a genus and even among populations, testifying to a high level of precision. We are currently investigating the extent to which our groupings based on morphometric data aligns with established phylogeny and the practical implications. This study assesses the potential of geometric morphometrics to infer the phylogenetic placement of indeterminate bee species based solely on wing vein patterns and provides an effective pathway for species identification. This classification method could accelerate research in pollinator conservation and ecology by offering an accessible alternative means for bee identification and ecological morphotype hypotheses.

This poster was presented at the UCSB Undergraduate Research Colloqium- 2024