West African bee
| West African bee | ||||||||||||
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| Apis mellifera adansonii | ||||||||||||
| Latreille , 1804 |
The West African bee ( Apis mellifera adansonii ) is a subspecies of the western honey bee Apis mellifera . Their distribution area is tropical West Africa and Central Africa . Apis mellifera adansonii was described by Pierre André Latreille as early as 1804 .
Taxonomy
The western honeybee is divided into four race groups, which are morphologically and genetically distinguishable (based on the mitochondrial DNA sequences) and each have a separate distribution area: the western European, eastern European and African bees and the bees of the Middle East. The bees of tropical Africa were assigned to the broad breed Apis mellifera adansonii by Latreille in 1806 . This differs from the northern races in that it is smaller, has a more yellow-orange tint and a number of behavioral characteristics. Later analyzes showed, however, that the bees of tropical Africa show greater differences among each other, which can be differentiated from each other as races or subspecies. The assignment to these subspecies is complex, however, and numerous features have to be offset against each other morphometrically .
As a result, in addition to the subspecies Apis mellifera adansonii , which is native to tropical West and Central Africa, the following further races or subspecies of tropical Africa are recognized:
- the East African highland bee ( Apis mellifera scutellata Lepeletier, 1836)
- the East African mountain bee ( Apis mellifera monticola Smith, 1849)
- the East African coastal bee ( Apis mellifera litorea Smith, 1961)
Ecology and behavior
The West African bee is a small, stocky breed with a yellow abdomen . Compared to European bee breeds, it is more aggressive towards approaches to the nest, which it perceives as a threat. However, it is the East African highland bee that, as the Africanized honeybee , has come to be known as a killer bee in South America . In general, African honey bees are more mobile than European bee breeds. In addition to swarming during the production of the young queens, they also often relocate the nest location at other times. Such swarms of migration occur z. B. on lack of food, unfavorable microclimatic conditions at the nesting site and disturbances by predators.
See also
Web links
- Apis mellifera adansonii . In: Atlas Hymenoptera , accessed January 6, 2019.
Individual evidence
- ^ Stanley Scott Schneider, Gloria DeGrandi-Hoffman, Deborah Roan Smith: The African Honey Bee: Factors Contributing to a Successful Biological Invasion. Annual Revue of Entomology (2004) 49: 351-376. doi : 10.1146 / annurev.ento.49.061802.123359
- ^ H. Randall Hepburn, Sarah E. Radloff: Honeybees of Africa. Springer Verlag, 1998, ISBN 3540642218
- ↑ Africa's Bees - A Challenge for Advanced Breeding
- ↑ HR Hepburn: Absconding, migration and swarming in honeybees: An ecological and evolutionary perspective. In: Vladilen E. Kipyatkov (Ed.): Life Cycles in Social Insects: Behavior, Ecology and Evolution. Proceedings of the International Symposium, St. Petersburg, Russia 22-27 September 2003. St. Petersburg University Press, St. Petersburg 2006, ISBN 5-288-04008-7