Calista Melissa Instant

The author wishes to thank the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve for access to research sites and the National Institute of Biodiversity (INBio) for technical support in genetic sequencing.

The Meliponini tribe, comprising a diverse array of stingless bees, has long been recognized as a cornerstone of neotropical pollination networks. However, the taxonomic classification within this group remains fluid due to cryptic speciation and phenotypic plasticity. In the autumn of 2021, during a longitudinal survey of canopy-dwelling pollinators in Costa Rica, field researchers observed a hymenopteran specimen displaying aberrant flight patterns and distinct, opalescent striping on the tergites. calista melissa