Apis mellifera meda

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Apis mellifera meda
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Apidae
Genus: Apis
Species:
Subspecies:
A. m. meda
Trinomial name
Apis mellifera meda
Skorikov 1929 [1]
Synonyms [2]

Apis mellifera remipes Bodenheimer 1941 via. Gerstácker

Apis mellifera meda is known by the common names of the Median honey bee or the Iranian honey bee. Its range covers the non desert areas of most of Iran and Iraq, but also into southeastern Turkey, across northern Syria as far as the coast of the Mediterranean. Colonies have been observed in the Azarbaijan Iranian highlands at elevations up to 3,000 m (9,800 ft). [1] [2] Initially based on morphometric evaluation, but then later confirmed with DNA analysis, they belong to the O Lineage (meaning Oriental, from the Near East region) of Apis mellifera . [3]

The appearance of the A. m. meda greatly resembles the Apis mellifera ligustica , to such an extent that identification using standard morphometric analysis requires additional measurements to be taken; however, its scutellum (an area of the upper rear thorax) is bright yellow, unlike the A. m. ligustica in which it is predominantly dark. [2]

The A. m. meda has a reputation for a strong swarming tendency, but only with a moderate swarm cell production of 10 to 20 cells. Its adaption to long winters is presumed due to the fact that, for example, the Zagros Mountains (covering much of its range) can have days with frost for six months of the year. They appear to be heavy users of propolis, and are quick to be alarmed and show aggression towards intruders near the hive, but with a greater tendency to pursue (up to 200m) in the south Iraq region, than the north Azerbaijan Iran region. [2]

Related Research Articles

The Buckfast bee is a breed of honey bee, a cross of many subspecies and their strains, developed by Brother Adam, who was in charge of beekeeping from 1919 at Buckfast Abbey in Devon in the United Kingdom. Breeding of the Buckfast bee is now done by breeders throughout Europe belonging to the Federation of European Buckfast Beekeepers (G.D.E.B.). This organization maintains a pedigree for Buckfast bees, originating from the time of Brother Adam.

Within biological taxonomy, a honey bee race would be an informal rank in the taxonomic hierarchy, below the level of subspecies. It has been used as a higher rank than strain, with several strains making up one race. Therefore, a strain is a lower-level taxonomic rank used at the intraspecific level within a race of a subspecies. Strains are often seen as inherently artificial concepts, more usually within biology as characterized by a specific intent for genetic isolation, however, within beekeeping circles, strain is more likely to be used to describe very minor differences throughout the same subspecies, such as the color ranges of A. m. carnica from brown to grey. Within A. m. ligustica there are two races, the darker leather brown northern Italian bee from the Ligurian Alps region which was discovered to be resistant to acarine in the 1900s, while the other Italian bee race, from regions near Bologna and further south, was highly susceptible to acarine and within this race there are two color strains, the traditional Italian yellow and a rarer all-golden color.

<i>European dark bee</i> Subspecies of honey bee

The Apis mellifera mellifera is a subspecies of the western honey bee, evolving in central Asia, with a proposed origin of the Tien Shan Mountains and later migrating into eastern and then northern Europe after the last ice age from 9,000BC onwards. Its original range included the southern Urals in Russia and stretched through northern Europe and down to the Pyrenees. They are one of the two members of the 'M' lineage of Apis mellifera, the other being in western China. Traditionally they were called the Black German Bee, although they are now considered endangered in Germany. However today they are more likely to be called after the geographic / political region in which they live such as the British Black Bee, the Native Irish Honey Bee, the Cornish Black Bee and the Nordic Brown Bee, even though they are all the same subspecies, with the word "native" often inserted by local beekeepers, even in places where the bee is an introduced foreign species. It was domesticated in Europe and hives were brought to North America in the colonial era in 1622 where they were referred to as the English Fly by the Native Americans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Italian bee</span> Subspecies of honey bee

Apis mellifera ligustica is the Italian bee or the Italian Honey bee which is a subspecies of the western honey bee.

The Maltese honey bee, Apis mellifera ruttneri, is a subspecies of the western honey bee, endemic to the Maltese islands which are situated in the Mediterranean Sea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">East African lowland honey bee</span> Subspecies of honey bee native to Africa

The East African lowland honey bee is a subspecies of the western honey bee. It is native to central, southern and eastern Africa, though at the southern extreme it is replaced by the Cape honey bee. This subspecies has been determined to constitute one part of the ancestry of the Africanized bees spreading through North and South America.

Apis mellifera iberiensis, or the Spanish bee, is a western honey bee subspecies native to the Iberian Peninsula. It is also found on the Balearic Islands.

<i>Apis mellifera cecropia</i> Subspecies of honey bee

Apis mellifera cecropia, the Greek bee, is the subspecies of honey bee that is native to southern Greece. It is found also in southern Albania, and it is very similar to Apis mellifera ligustica, the Italian bee. it is favored for its extreme gentleness and lack of tendency to swarm. The Greek bee originates in Greece where the climate is Mediterranean, and cannot survive in the north of Europe where the climate is cooler, and because of that they are not spread around the world much by commercial beekeepers. They are mainly only kept in southern Greece.

Apis mellifera cypria(Cyprus honey bee) is a subspecies of the Western honey bee. Its habitat is the Mediterranean island of Cyprus.

<i>Apis mellifera anatoliaca</i> Subspecies of honey bee

Apis mellifera anatoliaca is a subspecies of Apis mellifera.

Apis mellifera adansonii(Western African bee) is a subspecies of the Western honey bee with probably the largest range of Apis mellifera in Africa, belonging to the A (Africa) Lineage of honey bees. Originally identified by Michael Adansonin in his Histoire naturelle du Seneegal in 1757. Initially the name adsansonii was misapplied to A. m. scutelleta and in particular to the Africanised bees of South America.

Apis mellifera artemisia is the Russian steppe honey bee, first identified in 1999 near Kyiv, Ukraine, by only one specimen, but by 2011 its taxonomic status had been called into question, although to date no DNA analysis has been conducted: At the same time the taxonomic status of the Apis mellifera ruttneri on Malta was also called into question, however in 2017 it was confirmed that Apis mellifera ruttneri was a new and separate subspecies.

Apis mellifera sossimai extending from the west of Ukraine centrally and southwards towards the Caucasus mountains. However in 2011 research from Russia conducted mtDNA analysis showing that the A. m. sossimai was not a separate subspecies, but only an ecotype of the Apis mellifera macedonica subspecies.

Apis mellifera taurica along the north central shores of the Black Sea, in the Crimea. However in 2011 research from Russia questioned the taxonomic status of A. m. taurica citing mtDNA analysis to the north and west of Crimea, which had shown that those regions did not have distinct subspecies, but that their honey bees were at the most ecotypes of previously known subspecies.

Apis mellifera siciliana is known by the common name of the Sicilian honey bee which is endemic to the island of Sicily, Italy in the Mediterranean sea. It belongs to the A Lineage of honey bees from Africa, with close genetic relations to Apis mellifera sahariensis, Apis mellifera intermissa, and Apis mellifera ruttneri.

Apis mellifera monticola is known by the common name of the East African mountain honey bee. In 2017 its complete mitochondrial genome was sequenced, confirming that it belonged to the A Lineage of honey bees and concluding that "A phylogenetic tree showed that A. m. monticola clusters with other African subspecies".

Apis mellifera unicolor is known by the common name of the Madagascar honey bee, sometimes also called the Malagasy honey bee. It is endemic to the island of Madagascar.

<i>Apis mellifera syriaca</i> Subspecies of honey bee

Apis mellifera syriaca is known by the common name of the Syrian honey bee, sometimes also called the Palestine honey bee.

Apis mellifera remipes is known by the common name of the Armenian honey bee and is reported to occur in the region of Armenia, however numerous names have been assigned to honey bees within this area leading to considerable confusion as to the correct name which should be used. There has also been doubts raised as to whether the A. m. remipes has been misidentified, and is not actually the A. m. anatoliaca to the west.

References

  1. 1 2 Michael S Engel (1999). "The taxonomy of recent and fossil honey bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae; Apis)". Journal of Hymenoptera Research. 8 (2): 180. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Professor Dr. Friedrich Ruttner (1988). Biogeography and Taxonomy of Honeybees. Springer-Verlag. pp. 163–257. ISBN   978-3-642-72651-4 . Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  3. Dr. Smith, A. Slaymaker, M. Palmer, O. Kaftanoglu. (1997). "Turkish honey bees belong to the east Mediterranean mitochondrial lineage" (PDF). Apidologie. 28 (5): 269–278. doi:10.1051/apido:19970503 . Retrieved 7 February 2023.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)