Phytogeographic regions and geographic distance do not predict genetic structure in the orchid bee Euglossa cordata

Herein, we investigated the genetic diversity and population structure of Euglossa cordata L., an orchid bee species widely distributed at the heterogeneous set of vegetal physiognomies encompassed in a transition zone (TZ) of different Brazilian biomes. We then tested whether phytogeographic regions would play some rule for the genetic diversity. Results revealed that only 12 and 28 out 78 pairs of samples showed some degree of genetic structure for microsatellites (FST≤ 0.029; Dest≤0.091; p ST≤ 0.495; p E. cordata may have experienced some local bottlenecks despite its resilience to anthropic interferences. These are the first records of relatively high genetic structure in E. cordata populations and have important implications for orchid bees’ conservation.