New Records of Species Genus Ceratina Latreille, 1802 (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Xylocopinae: Ceratinini) from Sindh, Pakistan

Zarnain Rajput; Imran Khatri; Lubna Bashir Rajput; Muhammad Bachal Bhutto

New Records of Species Genus Ceratina Latreille, 1802 (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Xylocopinae: Ceratinini) from Sindh, Pakistan

Authors

Zarnain Rajput PhD Scholar, Department of Entomology, Sindh Agriculture University Tandojam, Pakistan
Imran Khatri Professor, Department of Entomology, Sindh Agriculture University Tandojam, Pakistan
Lubna Bashir Rajput Professor, Department of Entomology, Sindh Agriculture University Tandojam, Pakistan
Muhammad Bachal Bhutto Professor, Department of Veterinary Parasitology, Sindh Agriculture University Tandojam, Pakistan

Keywords:

Hymenoptera, , Apidae, , Ceratina hieroglyphica, , Ceratina smaragdula, , small carpenter bees, , morphology, , taxonomy, , new provincial record, , Sindh, Pakistan.

Abstract

This paper relates new provincial records of Ceratina hieroglyphica Smith, 1854, and Ceratina smaragdula (Fabricius, 1787) in Sindh, Pakistan. This study addresses a regional knowledge gap, as the Ceratina fauna of Sindh has not been previously documented. Thus enlarging the distribution of Ceratina within the region. Hand-net sampling was done in several habitats around Tandojam and in nearby localities, and specimens were stored in ethanol and later examined morphologically. High-resolution habitus imaging captured characters diagnostic of each species and were compared to a known taxonomic literature, with identifications confirmed using established taxonomic keys. The C. hieroglyphica can be characterized by the dark brown colouring of its body with characteristically distinct yellow markings, as well as by the presence of a triangular clypeal, which is predominantly dark brown with a yellow band, whereas the C. smaragdula has a metallic green exoskeleton with a distinctive yellow clypeal mark. These results present new morphological diagnoses and prove the presence of the two species in Sindh, which is added to regional biodiversity data and can serve as the groundwork for further biographical and ecological studies. Its morphological identification should be supplemented by integrating molecular techniques in future studies in order to exemplify species delimitations. The study contributes to strengthening the native fauna of pollinators from Sindh province and adds verified species of the genus Ceratina, and it will help to understand the agro-ecological zones of Pakistan.

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New Records of Species Genus Ceratina Latreille, 1802 (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Xylocopinae: Ceratinini) from Sindh, Pakistan