A revision of subspecies structure of western honey bee Apis mellifera

Abstract

The taxonomy of honey bee A. mellifera contains a lot of issues due to the specificity of population structure, features of biology and resolutions of honey bee subspecies discrimination methods. There are a lot of transition zones between ranges of subspecies which led to the gradual changes of characteristics among neighbor subspecies. The modern taxonomic pattern of honey bee Apis mellifera is given in this paper. Thirty-three distinct honey bee subspecies are distributed across all Africa (11 subspecies), Western Asia and the Middle East (9 subspecies), and Europe (13 subspecies). All honey bee subspecies are subdivided into 5 evolutionary lineages: lineage A (10 subspecies) and its sublineage Z (3 subspecies), lineage M (3 subspecies), lineage C (10 subspecies), lineage O (3 subspecies), lineage Y (1 subspecies), lineage C or O (3 subspecies).

Genetic network analysis between Apis mellifera subspecies based on mtDNA argues the purity of specimens from North Africa, the Levant and Saudi Arabia

“…These findings are supported partially by the results of this study. In fact, A. m. intermissa has a pivotal role in the transition zones between some subspecies of Africa such as A. m. sahariensis and A. m. scutellata ( Dukku, 2016 , Ilyasov et al, 2020 ) and in Europe such as A. m. iberiensis ( Ruttner, 1988 ). This supports the idea of being A. m. intermissa the genetic root of bee subspecies in South Europe.…”

“…There is a number of honey bee, Apis mellifera L., subspecies from 20 up 33 ( Ruttner, 1988 , Engel, 1999 , Sheppard and Meixner, 2003 , Dogantzis and Zayed, 2019 , Ilyasov et al, 2020 ). Morphometry and genetic methods are employed to discriminate between subspecies ( Ruttner et al, 1978 , Garnery et al, 1992 , Estoup et al, 1995 , Arias and Sheppard, 1996 , Franck et al, 1998 , Palmer et al, 2000 , Meixner et al, 2013 ).…”

“…However, the discrimination between some bee subspecies cannot be achieved by morphological characteristics ( Garnery et al, 1995 , Sheppard et al, 1996 , Dukku, 2016 ). Typically, these subspecies can be divided into five lineages as A, Z, M, C, O, Y and C or Y ( Ilyasov et al, 2020 ). Honey bee subspecies are assigned to these linages using morphometry and genetic methods; but variations of the results were observed between the two approaches.…”

“…For example, subspecies of Europe are well adapted to temperate conditions while those of Gulf countries and North Africa can tolerate high temperature and arid conditions ( Alqarni et al, 2011 , Abou-Shaara et al, 2013 , Al-Ghamdi et al, 2016 ). The higher number of subspecies occurs in Europe (13), then Africa (11), and finally the Western Asia and the Middle East (9) ( Ilyasov et al, 2020 ). The productivity of these subspecies is varied and can be inferred from specific morphological characteristics such as body size, wing dimensions and corbicular area ( Kolmes and Sam, 1991 , Mostajeran et al, 2006 ).…”

Characterization of the native honey bee (Apis mellifera jemenitica) in the south western region of Saudi Arabia using morphometric and genetic (mtDNA COI) characteristics

“…The Western honey bee ( Apis mellifera L.) is a profoundly variable species, with around 31 perceived subspecies ( Chen et al, 2016 , Eimanifar et al, 2018 , Engel, 1999 , Hepburn and Radloff, 1998 , Meixner et al, 2011 , Ruttner, 1988 , Sheppard and Meixner, 2003 ). Inside subspecies, there are additionally ecotypes and reproducing lines, which are significant regarding the conservation planning and sustainable practice of local strains ( Dukku and Danailu, 2020 , Ilyasov et al, 2020 ).…”