| Apis mellifera iberiensis | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Apidae |
| Genus: | Apis |
| Species: | |
| Subspecies: | A. m. iberiensis |
| Trinomial name | |
| Apis mellifera iberiensis Engel, 1999 [1] | |
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. [2]
This subspecies is well characterized towards the south and west of a line passing from Zaragoza to Barcelona in the Iberian Peninsula, [3] belonging to the A lineage of Apis mellifera originating from Africa (formally mis-identified as belonging to the M Lineage originating from central Asia), colonizing Iberia across the Strait of Gibraltar. [4]
Apis mellifera iberiensis have a length of the forewings with an average of 9.226 mm and 3.098 mm [5] [ dead link ] while the width of the subspecies Apis mellifera mellifera is 9.381 mm and 3.0293 mm respectively. The first description of this bee of the Iberian Peninsula was published in the magazine Bee World, made by B. Adam. F. Ruttner described it in his book "Biogeography and Taxonomy of Honeybees." in base to the description of B. Adam, but like several authors prior to him (e.g., Goetze, 1964) erroneously equated this bee with the subspecies proposed by Skorikov (1929) as Apis mellifera iberica (Skorikov, however, proposed the name for a subspecies occurring in the Caucasus and based the name on the ancient Greco-Roman designation for the Georgian Kingdom, Caucasian Iberians, existing there in antiquity). Thus, the name as employed by Ruttner was an error, leaving Apis mellifera iberiensis as the only valid name for this subspecies of honey bees. B.Adam collect their views on a trip he made in 1959 to Spain and Portugal.
A. m. iberiensis has the body size of European subspecies with forewings narrower and wider abdomen. It is mostly dark brown to jet-black. The darkness is accentuated by the low tomentum and low hairiness. The queens are black almost uniform in color. They are prolific and with high fertility controlled by environmental conditions. [6] The closing membrane of the cells is watery, the breeding is sensitive to some diseases.
They do not typically generate multiple queens (polygyny) in any given hive at swarming time. Their movements are fast and rather nervous. They exhibit quick defensive reaction, nervousness, and a propensity to swarm. They do make abundant use of propolis. [6] One or two sentry bees are always present at the entrance of the hive. If the colony is disturbed, the sentries raise a persistent alarm. The hive attack anything that seems threatening for at least 24 hours.
The name often applied to this subspecie is A.m.iberica, an epithet originally proposed by Skorikov in his 1929 monograph on honey bees. Authors subsequent to Skorikov assumed in error that the iberica referred to the Iberian Peninsula and thereby quickly adopted the name for the subspecie of bees living in Spain and bordering areas. However, the name iberica was based on a Caucasian subspecie of honey bees, the epithet referring to the Greco-Roman designation for the Georgian Kingdom established in that region in antiquity. The true A. m. iberica of Skorikov has nothing to do with the western Mediterranean subspecie of bees, and under the rules of nomenclature the name iberica is not valid for this lineage of honey bees. The corrected and valid name for the subspecie is Apis mellifera iberiensis.
In a comparative study of A.m.iberiensis and five others sub-species of Apis mellifera including A.m.intermissa , A. m. monticola , A. m. scutellata , A. m. adansonii and A. m. capensis [7] [8] cleavage maps obtained through the use of restriction enzyme [9] showed the Spanish Honey bee contains mtDNA similar to intermissa and also mellifera. [10] Additionally A.m.intermissa belongs to a group shown by experiment to have similar mtD.N.A (mitochondrian D.N.A.), this including monticola, scuttelata, adansonii and capensis. [7] [8] [11]
In Spanish bee populations, mtDNA haplotypes of African bee strains were found to be frequently present. Migrating bee populations formed the original colonies of bee in western Europe, landing to eventually populate the continent from Africa across the Straits of Gibraltar. [12]
The Iberian Peninsula is an area of hybridization between the north of Africa and Europe, the influence of Apis mellifera mellifera is present in bees localized in the northern, and the influence of Apis mellifera intermissa is more present in the south, in the Apis mellifera iberiensis. [6]
A. m. iberiensis DNA is present in the honey bees of the western United States [13] where the honey bees are not native and they were introduced from Spain during the conquest of America.
Presents six haplotypes different, five of them correspond to an evolutionary lineage from Africa and one from West Europa. From this, infer the hybrid nature of this subspecies, which has a predominant influence in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, with a North African component that is gradually replaced towards the north, with Apis mellifera mellifera .[ citation needed ]
The genetic variability of the microsatellite of the chromosomes, is similar to that of African populations in the number of alleles detected and the values of genetic diversity. This suggests the genetic relationship between populations of Andalusia and North Africa.
Studied be populations of Portugal there were no major differences between different geographical locations. Morphometric studies of Apis mellifera iberiensis populations in Asturias and northern Iberian Peninsula indicated that the Cantabrian Mountains produces insulation allowing for differences between populations.
The results of microsatellites vary markedly between provinces. In Cadiz haplotype homogeneity contrasts with the microsatellite variability, suggesting the occurrence of recent phenomena of introgression from populations with African haplotypes, whose origin is indeterminate.
The Africanized bee, also known as the Africanized honey bee and colloquially as the "killer bee", is a hybrid of the western honey bee, produced originally by crossbreeding of the East African lowland honey bee (A. m. scutellata) with various European honey bee subspecies such as the Italian honey bee (A. m. ligustica) and the Iberian honey bee (A. m. iberiensis).
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.
The European dark bee 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.
Apis mellifera ligustica is the Italian bee which is a subspecies of the western honey bee.
The Cape honey bee or Cape bee is a southern South African subspecies of the western honey bee. They play a major role in South African agriculture and the economy of the Western Cape by pollinating crops and producing honey in the Western Cape region of South Africa. The species is endemic to the Western Cape region of South Africa on the coastal side of the Cape Fold mountain range.
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.
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.
The Macedonian bee is a subspecies of the Western honey bee. It is found mainly in Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Northern Greece and other places in the Balkans as well. Originally this subspecies was described based on morphological characteristics by Friedrich Ruttner, as were the adami, cecropia and cypria subspecies.
Beekeeping is first recorded in Ireland in the seventh century. It has seen a surge in popularity in modern times, with the membership of beekeeping associations exceeding 4,500. The median average number of hives per beekeeper is three hives, while the average honey output per hive is 11.4 kg. The growth in the practice has occurred despite increased pressures on bees and beekeepers due to parasites, diseases and habitat loss.
Apis mellifera intermissa is an African subspecies of the western honey bee.
Apis mellifera cypria(Cyprus honey bee) is a subspecies of the Western honey bee. Its habitat is the Mediterranean island of Cyprus.
Apis mellifera sahariensis is a North African bee subspecies of the species Apis mellifera. It is closely related to Apis mellifera intermissa in the region.
Apis mellifera adami is a western honey bee subspecies, endemic to the island of Crete in the eastern Mediterranean.
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 litorea(East African coastal honey bee) is a subspecies of the Western honey bee with a narrow coastal range mainly on the plains of Mozambique, it belongs to the A (Africa) Lineage of honey bees.
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.
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 3000m. Initially based on morphometric evaluation, but then later confirmed with DNA analysis, they belong to the O Lineage of Apis mellifera.
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