 Unusually for stingless bees, colonies are formed in underground chambers rather than in tree cavities.Workers are approximately 6.5mm long

The type species for this genus, "S. quadripunctata", was first described by the French entomologist Amédéé Louis Michel le Peletier in 1836.Although originally placed in the genus "Trigona", more recent taxonomic evaluations have since placed it under its current genus, following the 1943 description of "Schwarziana" by Padre J.S.