Multivariate morphometric analysis of Apis cerana of southern mainland Asia

Sarah E. Radloff , H. Randall Hepburn , C. Hepburn , Stefan Fuchs , Gard W. Otis , M.M. Sein , H.L. Aung , H.T. Pham , D.Q. Tam , A.M. Nuru , Tan Ken

Multivariate morphometric analyses were performed on a series of worker honeybees, Apis cerana, representing 557 colonies from all of southern mainland Asia extending from Afghanistan to Vietnam south of the Himalayas. Scores from the principal components analysis revealed five statistically separable but not entirely distinct morphoclusters of bees: (1) the Hindu Kush, Kashmir, N. Myanmar, N. Vietnam and S. China; (2) Himachal Pradesh region of N. India; (3) N. India, Nepal; (4) central and S. Myanmar and Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, S. China and peninsular Malaysia; (5) central and S. India. The major morphoclusters are distributed coherently with the different climatic zones of the region. While populations are definable, nomenclatural adjustments remain for the future.

Mots clés: honeybees; subspecific taxon; morphocluster; morphometry; southern mainland Asia; Apis cerana

Domaines: Zoologie des invertébrés; Biodiversité; Ecologie, Environnement; Science des productions animales

Sarah E. Radloff, H. Randall Hepburn, C. Hepburn, Stefan Fuchs, Gard W. Otis, et al.. Multivariate morphometric analysis of Apis cerana of southern mainland Asia. Apidologie, 2005, 36 (1), pp.127-139. ⟨hal-00892124⟩