Tetragonisca angustula
(Latreille, 1811) · speciesAt a glance
Sources9 archives
Databases and archives Tetragonisca angustula's data was compiled from.
WikipediaWikimedia Foundation5 languages↗
BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗
GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility8 050 records↗
ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI1 673 eDNA detections↗
BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics1 661 specimens↗
Open Tree of LifeOpenTreephylogeny backbone↗
GoaTGenomes on a Tree · Sangergenome & karyotype↗
NCBIUS National Library of Medicinegenome & karyotype↗
GLoBIGlobal Biotic Interactionsbiotic interactions↗Every layer below draws on the sources above — open one to explore it, or use ← → to move between tabs.
Tetragonisca angustula is a small eusocial stingless bee found in México, Central and South America. It is known by a variety of names in different regions (e.g. jataí, yatei, jaty, virginitas, angelitas inglesas, españolita, mariola, chipisas, virgencitas, and mariolitas). A subspecies, Tetragonisca angustula fiebrigi, occupies different areas in South America and has a slightly different coloration. T. angustula is a very small bee and builds unobtrusive nests, allowing it to thrive in urban areas. It also produces large amounts of honey, and is thus frequently kept in wooden hives by beekeepers. T. angustula hives are often overlooked, and since the bee lacks a stinger, it is not seen as a threat to humans. Tetragonisca angustula in Cordillera department, Paraguay Many of their behaviors are concerned with colonizing a new nest and producing offspring, demonstrated by their swarming and nursing behaviors, however a special caste of T. angustula are soldiers who are slightly larger than the workers. The soldiers in a T. angustula nest are very good at protecting the hive against intruders which makes up for not having a stinger. Some of these soldiers hover in mid air outside the nest, which is seen in the adjacent picture.
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
Size & morphology2
A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Tetragonisca angustula has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
★ the standard DNA barcode for this group — the short region actually read to tell this species apart. The rest are extra genes sequenced along the way.
The complete instruction manual Tetragonisca angustula carries — its genome. We read it from three angles — how big it is, how the DNA is packed into chromosomes, and how completely it has been sequenced — and explain how to read each value as you go.
Genome sizehow big the whole instruction manual is
Measured in base pairs (bp) — the individual letters of DNA (human ≈ 3.2 Gb, a bacterium a few million). The chart places this genome on a logarithmic scale — each step to the right is ten times bigger — among reference organisms. Across species a bigger genome loosely tracks with larger cells, slower growth and lower-energy lifestyles (powered flight favours small genomes) — yet it does not imply more genes or a more advanced organism (the long-standing C-value paradox).
Chromosomes & ploidyhow the DNA is packaged
2n is the full chromosome count in a normal body cell; n is a gamete (egg or sperm), which carries half. Ploidy is how many complete chromosome sets each cell holds — 2× (diploid) is typical for animals, while higher levels (polyploidy) are common in plants. Click any value below to see the underlying records and sources.
Sequencing statusassembly quality — how far to trust these numbers
Assembly level tells you how finished the sequence is — from fragmented contigs, through scaffolds, up to a full chromosome-level assembly. BUSCO % estimates completeness: the share of genes expected to be present that were actually found. These describe the data quality, not the organism.
How far back this lineage goes — and how we know. Everything here is measured in Ma, short for “mega-annum”: millions of years ago. The chart reads left to right like a calendar of the Earth, from the deep past on the left to today at the right edgetop to bottom like a core drilled through the Earth, from the deep past at the top down to today at the bottom.
At a glance
When this lineage existed
How to read this: the coloured strip along the bottomdown the left is the geological calendar — the standard epochs (Pliocene, Pleistocene…) every museum uses, shown so you can see which chapter of Earth's history this lineage lived in. This lineage is a young one, so the strip is zoomed in to epochs — the finer subdivisions inside a period. The orange marker is the DNA clock: DNA accumulates mutations at a roughly steady rate, so comparing this species' DNA with its relatives estimates when the lineage split off — independently of any fossil.
Record type8 050 records
Range
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence
Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Holding institutions4 of 20 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
| Institution | Specimens |
|---|---|
| USP-IBlocation not on record | 1 827 |
| Tapachula, MX | 649 |
| National Biodiversity Institute, Costa Ricalocation not on record | 456 |
| Wuzhou, CN | 375 |
| EBDAlocation not on record | 269 |
| ECOSUR-SClocation not on record | 169 |
| UnBlocation not on record | 153 |
| 73 | |
| Universidad Nacional de Colombia (UNAL)location not on record | 34 |
| Champaign, US | 25 |
| UFMSlocation not on record | 11 |
| Universidad del Quindío (UniQuindío)location not on record | 5 |
| Caja de Compensación Familiar - Comfenalco Antioquialocation not on record | 4 |
| University, National Zoological Collection of Surinamelocation not on record | 2 |
| WIlocation not on record | 2 |
| Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad, Costa Ricalocation not on record | 2 |
| USP-RPlocation not on record | 2 |
| PUC-RSlocation not on record | 2 |
| Universidad EAFIT (EAFIT)location not on record | 1 |
| Museo de Zoología, Universidad San Francisco de Quitolocation not on record | 1 |
Where the DNA of Tetragonisca angustula was picked up in samples of water, soil or air — nobody saw the organism, only its DNA left behind. A trace is a clue that the species was near, not a confirmed sighting.
Signal
Where its DNA was found
How strong is each trace?
Modelled climatemodelled
How to read this: each dot is one detection of this species' DNA in an environmental sample. The confidence meter weighs how many independent studies and places back up the signal — one detection in one study is a hint; many across several studies is solid. Records dated before 2008 (when eDNA methods began) are treated as likely mislabeled and left off the map.