New Records of Species Genus Ceratina Latreille, 1802 (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Xylocopinae: Ceratinini) from Sindh, Pakistan

This paper relates new provincial records of Ceratina hieroglyphica Smith, 1854, and Ceratina smaragdula (Fabricius, 1787) in Sindh, Pakistan, this study addresses a regional knowledge gap, as the Ceratina fauna of Sindh has not been previously documented. Thus enlarging the distribution of Ceratina within the region. Hand-net sampling was done in several habitats around Tandojam and in nearby localities and specimens were stored in ethanol, later examined morphologically. High-resolution habitus imaging captured characters diagnostic of each species and were compared to a known taxonomic literature with identifications confirmed using established taxonomic keys. The C. hieroglyphica can be characterized by the dark brown coloring of its body with characteristically distinct yellow markings as well as by the presence of a triangular clypeal which is predominantly dark brown with a yellow band, whereas the C. smaragdula has a metallic green exoskeleton with a distinctive yellow clypeal mark. These results present new morphological diagnoses and prove the presence of the two species in Sindh, which is added to regional biodiversity data and can serve as groundwork of further biographical and ecologic studies. Its morphological identification should be supplemented with integrating molecular techniques in future studies in order to exemplify species delimitations. The study contributes to strengthening the native fauna of pollinators from Sindh province and adding verified species of the genus Ceratina and it will help to understand agro-ecological zones of Pakistan.