# Schrottky's Stingless Bee

*Friesella schrottkyi*

They construct tiny, delicate tube-like nest entrances made of soft wax and cerumen to protect their colony from larger predators.

- **Taxonomy:** Animalia › Arthropoda › Insecta › Hymenoptera › Apidae › Friesella
- **IUCN Red List status:** Least Concern
- **Population trend:** stable
- **Biome:** forest
- **Habitat:** Atlantic tropical and subtropical forests, nesting in small hollows of tree trunks, branches, or wall crevices.
- **Diet:** Nectar and pollen collected from a wide variety of native forest flowers.
- **Range:** Brazil, South America
- **Size:** 2.5 to 3 mm in length.
- **Lifespan:** Workers live 30-50 days; queens can live up to 3 years.
- **Active:** diurnal
- **Threats:** Deforestation, habitat fragmentation, and pesticide use in agricultural borders.
- **Safe to approach?:** Harmless. These bees lack a functional sting and are extremely gentle. You can observe them closely at their nest entrance without danger. If they land on you, remain calm; they are likely harvesting sweat for minerals and will fly off on their own.

## Sources

- Plate: https://gaia-dex.com/species/1e5a1e6b-650c-467d-b97d-8882aeb8518b
- iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/1117605

- Conservation status: IUCN Red List category, as recorded by Gaia-Dex
- Photo: https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/338251648/medium.jpeg (Bruno Henrique Aranda, CC-BY, via iNaturalist)

Habitat, diet, size and similar notes are AI-written summaries; check them against the linked sources before relying on them.