Abstract

VIT, Patricia. Incessant study of Meliponini in the style of JMF Camargo. INHRR [online]. 2010, vol.41, n.1, pp.50-60. ISSN 0798-0477.

The entomologist, naturalist and artist João Maria Franco de Camargo was a scientist who studied stingless bees (Me li ponini) with singular interest. The enormous biodiversity of these first bees in the planet, was for him an inexhaus tible mine of inspiration, curiosity and intelectual work. Acade mic lecturer, researcher and privileged drawer. Academic by vocation, initiated the biggest collection of tropical bees with 150.000 bees. Unconditional collaborator and perfectionist, guardian of details. Generous with his exuberant specialized knowledge in systematics and biogeography. His admirable contact with the bees was the legacy of his life. This ineffable amazement for the Meliponini world generated important questions and laborious answers, irradiating and motivating the youngests. The original teachings of his master Jesús Santiago Mou re, grew and multiplied in the fertile disciple João Maria Fran co de Camargo, who also trained Silvia Regina de Me nezes Pedro, current curator of the bee collection in Ri beirão Preto

Keywords : biogeography; Brasil; Franco de Camargo; João Maria- Biography; Meliponini; stingless bees; Venezuela.