Biography
Biography
Dr. Tiara Sayusti is a lecturer and researcher in the Department of Biology at Universitas Pertahanan Republik Indonesia, specializing in insect biology with a primary focus on honey bees and stingless bees. Her research combines behavioral ecology, pollination biology, palynology, molecular biology, and analytical chemistry to investigate bee diversity, bee-plant interactions, floral resource utilization, and the biological and chemical characteristics of bee products. Through this interdisciplinary approach, she contributes to pollinator conservation, sustainable beekeeping, and the scientific authentication of honey.
Her early research focused on the taxonomy and systematics of stingless bees, integrating morphometric analyses, DNA barcoding, and nest architecture to improve species identification and to understand the diversity of stingless bees in Indonesia. Building upon this foundation, her doctoral research expanded toward pollinator ecology by investigating resource partitioning and niche differentiation among sympatric honey bees and stingless bees. By integrating field observations, melissopalynology, physicochemical characterization, and LC-MS/MS-based metabolomics, she examines how ecological interactions between bees and flowering plants shape pollen preferences, honey composition, and bee product quality.
Dr. Sayusti's research interests include pollinator ecology, bee systematics, bee behavior, bee–plant interactions, melissopalynology, molecular identification, honey authentication, metabolomics of natural products, biodiversity conservation, and tropical agroecosystems. She actively collaborates with national and international researchers in multidisciplinary projects involving ecological field studies, laboratory analyses, and biodiversity research.
Alongside her research, Dr. Sayusti teaches undergraduate courses in animal biology and related biological sciences. She is committed to integrating research and education to advance pollinator science and promote the sustainable management of tropical ecosystems.
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Publications
Pollen composition in the corbicula reflects the foraging activity of sympatric honey bees and stingless bees in Indonesia
The corbicula or pollen basket plays a central role in pollen collection in honey bees and stingless bees, thus can be applied to study floral resource use by foraging bees. We investigated corbicular pollen load composition and foraging activity of sympatric honey bees (Apis cerana) and stingless bees (Geniotrigona thoracica and Heterotrigona itama) in a beekeeping area in North Sumatra, Indonesia. A total of 44 corbicular pollen loads were collected from three bee species (two colonies per species). Pollen samples were processed using the acetolysis method and identified based on morphology. Pollen types were quantified by relative abundance and differences among species were evaluated using diversity indices and multivariate analyses based on Bray–Curtis dissimilarity. Vegetation surveys were conducted to assess floral resource availability and their relationship with pollen composition. Foraging activity was observed over three consecutive days and analyzed in relation to environmental factors, with temporal overlap assessed using overlap indices. Pollen composition differed among species, with stingless bees showing higher pollen diversity than A. cerana, particularly in H. itama compared to G. thoracica. Multivariate analyses revealed significant but weakly separated pollen composition, indicating partial overlap in pollen use among the three bee species, with Cocos nucifera as a shared key floral resource. Despite the availability of flowering plants, pollen composition reflected selective rather than proportional use of available floral resources. Differences in pollen composition were associated with distinct pollen-foraging timing influenced by environmental factors. Apis cerana exhibited higher pollen-collecting activity in the morning and declined toward midday, whereas stingless bees maintained relatively consistent activity throughout the day. Temporal overlap analysis indicated partial separation in foraging activity, suggesting temporal resource partitioning between honey bees and stingless bees. These findings highlight the importance of maintaining diverse and continuous floral resources to support coexistence in sympatric managed bee communities.
Melissopalynological Analysis Revealed a Higher Pollen Diversity in Stingless Bees than in Honey Bees
Identifying floral resources used by honey bees and stingless bees is essential for sustainable beekeeping and understanding pollination ecology. This study compared the diversity of floral resources utilized by the honey bee Apis cerana and stingless bees Geniotrigona thoracica and Heterotrigona itama based on pollen in honey. Bee colonies were in the same Flora Nauli Beekeeping area, Pematang Siantar, North Sumatra, Indonesia, ensuring equal access to similar surrounding floral resources. Honey samples were collected, and pollen grains were extracted, acetolysed, and analyzed by counting 1,200 grains to determine frequency classes. Pollen diversity was calculated using the Shannon–Wiener index (H′). Stingless bee honey contained more diverse pollen than A. cerana, which only contained pollen from the Arecaceae family. Heterotrigona itama and G. thoracica honey contained pollen from 20 and 11 plant families, respectively. Each species had a distinct predominant pollen type (>45%): Cocos nucifera (A. cerana), Sapotaceae type (G. thoracica), and Casuarinaceae type (H. itama). A higher pollen diversity index was also observed in H. itama (1.05-1.83) than in G. thoracica (0.34–1.64) and A. cerana (0.66). These results indicate that stingless bees are more generalist than honey bees, highlighting their ecological role in supporting pollination networks in tropical agroecosystems.
Raw data of Melissopalynology from honey and vegetation analysis surrounding the nests of Apis dorsata in Kampar and Kerinci, Sumatra, Indonesia
Raw data of Melissopalynology from honey and vegetation analysis surrounding the nests of Apis dorsata in Kampar and Kerinci, Sumatra, Indonesia
Bees and wasps in the tropical lowland rainforest transformation in Jambi, Sumatra
Abstract Bees and wasps are beneficial insects for the stability of ecosystem function. This study aimed to explore the bees and wasps and their relationship with the environmental factors in the three habitats, i.e., oil palm and rubber plantation, jungle rubber and adjacent villages in Harapan Forest, Jambi, Sumatra, Indonesia. Bees and wasps were collected using sweeping method and the environmental factors were recorded during collection time. The correlation between the number of species and environmental factors was analyzed using Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Apis and Tetragonula were the two most common bees in all habitats and villages. The number of bee and wasp species in oil palm and rubber plantations was positively correlated with temperature and light intensity but negatively correlated with humidity. We found a higher number of bee species, i.e., 26 species, compared to seven species of wasps. The highest number of bees and wasps (16 species) was found in the oil palm plantation. Both jungle rubber and adjacent villages showed the lowest number of nine species of bees and wasps. Our study implied the importance of bees and wasps representing the herbivores and predators in these transformation habitats.
The effect of land cover on the foraging behavior and pollen in the honey of the giant bee Apis dorsata in Sumatra
Introduction Apis dorsata , the common bee pollinator in tropical forests, is experiencing a population decrease due to several anthropogenic factors that lead to land cover changes and habitat loss. Land cover changes may alter their resource supply and foraging behavior. Our study aimed to determine foraging behavior and botanical origin using pollen of A. dorsata honey in two land cover types: plantationdominated landscape (PL) in Kampar (Riau) and forest-agriculture-dominated landscape (FL) in Kerinci (Jambi) Sumatra, Indonesia. Methods We observed two colonies of A. dorsata flight direction and flight activities in each land cover from 9 am–3pm. Honey was harvested from both nests of A. dorsata and the pollen in the honey was analyzed using acetolysis procedure. Vegetation analysis in both locations was conducted based on the flight directions of the giant honey bees. Results The foraging data of A. dorsata showed a difference in the total number of bees between these two land cover types. The number of bees flying out and returning to the nest was higher in Kerinci than in Kampar, while high morning foraging activities were recorded in both land cover types. Furthermore, the foraging activity of the colonies in the PL landscape, i.e., flying out and returning to the nest with and without pollen, decreased at noon. The palynological results of the honey showed that in the PL landscape, pollen diversity was very low and mainly consisted of Elaeis gueneensis pollen (97%). Meanwhile, pollen types and concentrations were much higher in the FL than in the PL. Discussion This result suggests that A. dorsata exhibits a more varied foraging behavior in a diverse and heterogeneous landscape in Kerinci compared to a plantation-dominated habitat in Kampar.
Flight activity, associative learning, and memory in Asian honey bee Apis cerana
Abstract Honey bees have an important role as pollinators and are able to learn the flowering patches during foraging. These experiments aimed to investigate the associative learning and memory abilities of Apis cerana to find sugar and to observe the flight activities of the bees. The bees were trained using sugar solution at several distances using red and green papers as the landmarks that were placed beneath the sugar. Associative learning and long-term memory tests were carried out on day four and eleven after the training, respectively. On day four, we changed the angle of the sugar solution position to learn the length of time bees can find the shifting sugar. Our results confirmed that A. cerana could performed the training, as shown by the increasing number of A. cerana to the sugar from day one to day three during the training due to the recruitment process of the recruiter bee. A. cerana succeeded in associating each color and angle of landmarks and find the sugar in 15 minutes given in the day four. However, A. cerana failed the long-term memory test. Temperature and humidity showed negative and positive correlations, respectively, with the increasing number of flight activities of the bees.
HIGH GENETIC VARIATIONS OF THE STINGLESS BEE Tetragonula laeviceps BASED ON MITOCHONDRIAL DNA OF CYTOCHROME C OXIDASE SUBUNIT 1 (CO1) GENE IN SUMATRA AND JAVA, INDONESIA
The stingless bee Tetragonula laeviceps (Hymenoptera: Apidae) is frequently traded from its native regions to many areas across Indonesia for meliponiculture purposes. This species has a high morphological variation that make it difficult to identify. Identification at the molecular level based on the cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 ( COI ) gene from mitochondrial DNA is needed to support morphological identification. However, there is a lack of COI gene data for these bees in the GenBank. Thus, this research aimed to characterize T. laeviceps in Indonesian native and traded regions using the CO1 gene. Stingless bee samples were collected from two native regions: Batanghari (Jambi, Sumatra) and Lebak (Banten, Java), while the traded bee colonies were from Bogor (West Java, Java). The COI gene primers were manually designed based on the complete CO1 gene of Melipona bicolor (AF466146). Twenty-four nucleotide variations from 13 individuals of T. laeviceps CO1 gene sequences were found and classified into six haplotypes (Hap_1–Hap_6). The substitution of nucleotide number 157 of T. laeviceps CO1 gene altered to a single putative amino acid from serine to phenylalanine. A high (3.7%) genetic distance was found between the Hap_1 haplotype (Batanghari and Bogor) and other haplotypes (Hap_4 and Hap_6). The Hap_1 performed a single clade split from other haplotypes with 82% bootstrap value in the phylogenetic tree, meaning that the Hap_1 of T. laeviceps presumably has a high genetic differentiation. Extensive studies using T. laeviceps from a wider distribution area are needed to explain the haplotype variation thoroughly.
Morfologi dan variasi morfometrik stingless bees di Kepulauan Maluku, Indonesia
Lebah tanpa sengat tersebar luas di wilayah tropis termasuk Indonesia dan tercatat tiga spesies lebah tanpa sengat di Maluku. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengeksplorasi spesies lebah tanpa sengat dan persebarannya di Kepulauan Maluku, yaitu di Pulau Seram, Ambon, Haruku, Saparua, dan Nusalaut, serta membandingkan variasi morfometrik lebah tanpa sengat antar spesies dan antar individu dari spesies yang sama pada setiap pulau serta antar pulau. Sampel lebah diidentifikasi berdasarkan morfologi dengan 12 parameter morfometrik. Penelitian ini berhasil mengidentifikasi dua spesies lebah tanpa sengat, yaitu Tetragonula fuscobalteata (Cameron) dan T. sapiens (Cockerell). T. fuscobalteata merupakan catatan baru lebah tanpa sengat di Kepulauan Maluku dan lebah ini secara nyata memiliki pengukuran morfometrik lebih rendah daripada T. sapiens (P < 0,001). Berdasarkan analisis ordinasi non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS), gabungan 12 parameter morfometrik antara T. fuscobalteata dan T. sapiens menunjukkan perbedaan yang nyata. Parameter morfometrik T. fuscobalteata sangat bervariasi antar pulau kecuali satu parameter morfometrik (lebar gena) yang tidak nyata antar pulau (P > 0,05). Hal menarik lain berdasarkan analisis NMDS, koloni T. fuscobalteata di Ambon, Haruku, Saparua, dan Nusalaut sebagian besar membentuk kelompok, namun di Pulau Seram lebah tersebar dengan variasi morfometrik yang tinggi. T. sapiens ditemukan di tiga pulau, yaitu Seram, Ambon, dan Haruku. Lebar toraks, mesonotum dan panjang propodeum T. sapiens berbeda nyata di antara tiga pulau (P < 0,001). Hasil penelitian ini berkontribusi dalam menambah catatan penemuan persebaran baru T. fuscobalteata dan T. sapiens di Kepulauan Maluku dan menunjukkan variasi parameter morfometrik pada spesies lebah tanpa sengat antar pulau di Maluku.
Status of Paliga auratalis (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) as black potato pest and its control strategy using natural enemies
Plectranthus rotundifolius (Lamiales: Lamiaceae) is an edible tuber that is widely distributed in Asia, covering India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and Indonesia. P. rotundifolius, which is commonly called black potato in Indonesia, has the potential to be developed for national food diversification due to its high carbohydrates. However, one of the challenges in black potato cultivation is the existence of leaf-eating caterpillar. This study aimed to evaluate the status of Paliga auratalis (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) larva as an insect pest in black potato plant and to develop the control strategy by using parasitoid as the natural enemies. Observation and collection of P. auratalis and other potential insect pests were conducted in 12 black potato plantations located in five provinces of Java island. The life cycle of P. auratalis was observed in the laboratory of Zoology Division, Research Centre for Biology, Indonesian Institute of Science. Rearing of unhealthy P. auratalis larvae was also conducted to observe the parasitoid. We identified five moth larvae species that infested black potato plants: Argyrograma sp., Pycnarmon cribata, Pleuroptya punctimarginalis, Rehimena diemenalis, and Paliga auratalis. Our results showed that P. auratalis larva is the main insect pest in Java island with the serious attack status and black potato was recorded as a new host plant. Paliga auratalis spends its lifecycle from eggs to adulthood between 25 – 32 days with a total number of eggs of about 60-80 per female individual. We also identified two parasitic wasps as the parasitoid of P.auratalis: Cryptopimpla sp. (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) and Aspanteles sp. (Lepidoptera: Barconidae), which can potentially be developed as biological control agents for P. auratalis.
Stingless bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in South and West Sulawesi, Indonesia: morphology, nest structure, and molecular characteristics
Being part of the Wallacea region, Sulawesi has many endemic fauna, including five species of stingless bees. However, their morphology, nest structure, and molecular characteristics have not been documented fully. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the morphology, nest structure, and molecular characteristics of stingless bees in South and West Sulawesi. Samples were collected from seven sampling sites and identified based on ten morphological features supported by morphometric analysis and the cytochrome c-oxidase I (COI) gene from mitochondrial DNA. We identified five stingless bee species based on morphological features: Tetragonula sapiens, T. clypearis, T. fuscobalteata, Lepidotrigona terminata, and Wallacetrigona incisa. Furthermore, we observed the shape, diameter, length, ornamentation, and color of the nest entrance and the arrangement, cells, and color of brood cells. We provide the first report of high variations in the type of entrance opening (irregular, round, oval, ellipse, and triangle) and three different brood cells arrangements (semi-cluster, cluster, and semi-comb) for Tetragonula sapiens, which occurs abundantly in Sulawesi. In addition, for the first time, we documented the nest structure of the endemic stingless bee W. incisa, which had a slit longitudinal entrance with lamellate pillar structures in a 2-m cavity of a tree trunk. We also found that the COI gene sequence can be used to distinguish the five stingless bee species in Sulawesi, and it is especially accurate at separating the species in the genus of Tetragonula.
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| Course Code | Course Name | Role |
|---|---|---|
| BIO-13-101-1-TP-D | Biologi Dasar | Instructor |
| BIO-13-105-2-PR-D | Praktikum Stuktur dan Perkembangan | Instructor |
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- tiara.sayusti@idu.ac.id
- Lantai 2 Gedung B, Kampus Bhineka Tunggal Ika
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