Comparative anatomy of the thoracic muscles of bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea).

ABSTRACT: Bees exhibit a remarkable anatomical diversity, with phenotypic traits that reflect broad evolutionary patterns and specific adaptations. Understanding these patterns requires examining key anatomical features, such as thoracic musculature, which drives morpho-functional variation and underscores their extensive phenotypic diversity. The thorax (or 'mesosoma,' as it can be referred to in the context of bees and other apocritan Hymenoptera) serves as a power core, housing muscles responsible for leg, wing, and also head and metasomal articulation movements. Despite the role of the thoracic musculature in the flight mechanics of bees, detailed studies are limited to accounts of individual species or small subsets of muscles, with truly comparative analyses being scarce, leaving gaps in under

SUBMITTER: Meira OM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12786119 | biostudies-literature | 2026

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature