Spiny-legged Stingless bee

Trigona spinipes constructs large external nests in trees. Compared to other Trigona species such as T. hyalinata, T. spinipes nests are built quite high above the ground. They are usually built on forks between tree branches 4–7 meters from the ground and can be as large as 50–60 cm long and 50–60 cm wide. The nest material consists of mud, wax, plant fragments, and resins. The honeycombs within the nest contain the brood of eggs, larvae and pupae along within stores of honey and pollen. Early studies of T. spinipes nests noted the presence of a dense internal structure referred to as the “scutellum” which was often used to paralyze fish because of its high content of acetylcholine. This dense structure consists of nest waste such as adult bee excrements and its primary role is suggested to be an internal support upon which honeycombs are built. As for diet, Trigona spinipes has been known to collect pollen from a variety of plants, especially Eucalyptus spp., Aloe sp., and Archontophonix sp.

Trigona spinipes is quite common in large areas of Brazil as well as Paraguay, Argentina, and other parts of South America. It inhabits a variety of habitats including the cerrado (neotropical savannah), and tropical forests. Studies concerning Trigona spinipes have largely been conducted in Eastern and Southeastern Brazilian states such as São Paulo, Alagoas and Minas Gerais.

Because Trigona spinipes queens only mate once in their lifetimes, there is tremendous competition between males to copulate with virgin queens. Usually 30–50 but sometimes even hundreds of males can be counted near virgin queen colonies in lek-like groups. The males come from great distances and from a variety of nests. There is a very low probability that a male will ever mate. They stay inside the colony until the age of 2–3 weeks and then leave the nest and live the life of a solitary male bee, which might be 4–6 weeks. While living alone, they will forage with conspecific workers and may follow these workers back to their nests to learn the locations of conspecific nests.