Biogeography of the dwarf honeybees, Apis andreniformis and Apis florea

H. Hepburn , Sarah Radloff

The geographical distributions of the dwarf honeybees, Apis andreniformis and Apis florea, are defined and mapped. The analysis is based primarily on data in the literature for both species and that on the relevant Quaternary palaeoclimatic data. The dwarf honeybee, A. andreniformis, extends from the eastern foothills of the Himalayas eastward to Indochina, Sundaland and the Philippines. A. florea extends from eastern Oman into southern Iran, eastwards along the foothills of the Himalayas and abruptly stops in southern Thailand. Because they are only partially sympatric, the palaeoclimatic circumstances under which they may have speciated allopatrically are considered. A common and widespread pre-florea/andreniformis split could have occurred in the early Pleistocene followed by the Pre-Pastonian glacial (800-1,300 ka) which could well have provided a substantial barrier to gene flow for the then evolving proto-populations of A. andreniformis and A. florea.

Keywords: Apis andreniformis; Apis florea; biogeography; Southern Asia; speciation

Domains: Invertebrate Zoology; Biodiversity; Ecology, environment; Animal production studies

H. Hepburn, Sarah Radloff. Biogeography of the dwarf honeybees, Apis andreniformis and Apis florea. Apidologie, 2011, 42 (3), pp.293-300. ⟨10.1007/s13592-011-0024-x⟩. ⟨hal-01003555⟩