The assessment of the ecological risk of insecticides to pollinators has largely centered on the honeybee Apis mellifera L., which is the bioindicator of choice for other arthropod pollinators There have been efforts to encompass other species, and at least some of this research challenges the common use and extrapolation of honeybee results to other pollinators. The native Neotropical stingless bee Melipona
quadrifasciata (Lepeletier) produces highly valued honey and is an
important pollinator for both wild and cultivated plant species. Furthermore, M.
quadrifasciata is a more suitable species for an insecticide impact
assessment on pollinators in tropical America due to its greater ecological
relevance than the exotic Africanized A. mellifera. The stingless bee M. quadrifasciata
is also closely related to Melipona capixaba (Moure & Camargo),
another Neotropical stingless bee species formally recognized as
an endangered species by the Brazilian Ministry of Environment
(MAPA Normative Instruction No. 3, May 27th 2003) and the International
Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. These factors emphasize the importance of M. quadrifasciata
as a surrogate species in insecticide risk assessments.