Choudhary, AmitMehakpreet Kaur2023-07-142023-07-142022Mehakpreet Kaur (2022). Morphometric and molecular characterization of bees in Punjab (India) (Unpublished M.Sc. thesis). Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, Punjab, India.https://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/handle/1/5810198224Studies on ‘Morphometric and Molecular Characterization of Bees in Punjab (India)’ were con ducted at Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana (India), during 2020-22. Investigations were carried out on diversity of the bee fauna and their relative abundance in six agro-climatic regions viz., Sub-Mountain Undulating region, Undulating Plain region, Central Plain region, Western Plain region, Western region and Flood plain region (Bet) over various seasons viz., Spring, Summer, Monsoon, Autumn and Winter. Morphological (40 morphometric characters) and molecular (cox1 gene) characterization of recorded bee species was also done. A total of thirty bee species were identified out of forty-nine bee species collected from Punjab. Among the various agro-climatic regions, Sub-Mountain Undulating and Undulating Plain regions were having the highest bee diversity index i.e. Shannon diversity index as 3.05 and 3.04, respectively. The lowest bee diversity index was recorded in Western region (2.66). Among the various seasons, the highest bee diversity was recorded in the summer season (2.84) followed by autumn (2.67) and spring (2.63) seasons while it was the lowest in winter (1.37) season. The family Apidae contributed the maximum abundance (>40%) across six agro-climatic regions and different seasons. In all the identified thirty bee species, six new bee species falling under three families have been recorded from Punjab for the first time viz., Amegilla cingulata, Bombus haemorrhoidalis, Halictus propinquus, Lipotriches fulvinerva, Nomia crassipes and Megachile binghami. The Bray-Curtis analysis showed the lowest dissimilarity index (0.23) between the spring and summer season. The dissimilarity indices of autumn season with summer and monsoon seasons were 0.34 and 0.24, respectively. The Bray-Curtis dissimilarity Index for different agroclimatic regions showed the lowest dissimilarity index between the Sub-Mountain Undulating region and Undulating Plain region (0.09). The highest dissimilarity indices i.e 0.39 and 0.38 were of Western region with the Sub-Mountain Undulating region and Undulating Plain region, respectively. The 40 morphological characteristics recorded for the thirty bee species revealed significant differences within and across the family groups. All the identified thirty bee species were subjected to mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase (cox1) gene and the sequences were submitted to NCBI Genbank. The Genbank database was enriched with the submissions of eight gene sequences of Ceratina hieroglyphica, Halictus propinquus, Nomia westwoodi, Lipotriches fulvinerva, Ceylalictus punjabensis, Coelioxys decipiens, Megachile binghami and Andrena aegyptiaca for the first time. The relationships between bee species in respective families viz. Apidae, Halictidae and Megachilidae were highlighted through the construction of phylogenetic tree based on cox1 gene sequences. Present study generated a database on identified thirty bee species present in six agro-climatic regions of the Punjab state. Still, there is need to carry out further studies. Their detailed morphometric characterization and DNA barcodes will help the researchers to identify a species more accurately. This study will also help in studying the change in the apoid assemblage in the future.EnglishThesis