The honey bees of Ethiopia represent a new subspecies of Apis mellifera--Apis mellifera simensis n. ssp.

Marina Meixner , Messele Leta , Nikolaus Koeniger , Stefan Fuchs

Honey bees endemic to the volcanic dome system of Ethiopia are described as a new subspecies, Apis mellifera simensis, on the basis of morphometrical analyses. Principal component and discriminant analyses show that the Ethiopian bees are clearly distinct and statistically separable from honey bees belonging to neighboring subspecies in eastern Africa. Considerable variation of morphological characters in relation to altitude is present in the samples under analysis, but there are no statistically separable subgroups within this population. There is no indication for the presence of more than one subspecies of honey bee in Ethiopia.

Mots clés: Ethiopia; Apis mellifera simensis; subspecies; morphometrics; Africa

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

Marina Meixner, Messele Leta, Nikolaus Koeniger, Stefan Fuchs. The honey bees of Ethiopia represent a new subspecies of Apis mellifera--Apis mellifera simensis n. ssp.. Apidologie, 2011, 42 (3), pp.425-437. ⟨10.1007/s13592-011-0007-y⟩. ⟨hal-01003606⟩