Anomalies and asymmetry of wing venation pattern in Carniolan and Egyptian bee populations in Egypt

Abstract

The presence of unusual wing venation and asymmetry of the forewing in Carniolan and Egyptian honeybees in Egypt were recorded. The present study indicates that, Carniolan bees had higher rate of unusual veins than the Egyptian bees. The frequency of adventitious veins was much higher than incomplete veins, and the marginal cell had the highest frequency of adventitious veins, and the first cubital cell had the lowest. The adventitious vein of the marginal cell characterized the Egyptian bees, whereas the adventitious vein of the third cubital cell characterized the Carniolan bees population. In the hind wing, the incomplete veins were absent, and only an extension of the medial vein appeared with higher frequency in Egyptian bees than in Carniolan bees. The left and right forewings of Egyptian bees are more homogenous than those of Carniolan bees. All wing coordinates exhibited significant fluctuating asymmetry in Carniolan bees, in comparison to 15 of 31 coordinates in Egyptian bees. With respect to directional asymmetry, 19 and 27 of 31 coordinates showed significant directional asymmetry in Carniolan bees from Manzala and New Valley respectively, but only 13 in Egyptian bees.