Evaluation of intra- and interbreed differences in exterior characters of worker honeybees for biomonitoring purposes

Abstract

Exterior characters of worker honeybees of two breeds, Apis mellifera carnica Pollmann, 1879 and Apis mellifera caucasica Gorbatchev, 1916, were analyzed to estimate their discriminant role and contribution to interfamilial differences within the breed. Six characters were included in analysis: 3rd tergite width, 3rd tergite length, right forewing length, right forewing width, cubital index, and discoidal shift. The pattern of differences between the breeds with respect to the set of these characters was evaluated using discriminant analysis. Identification of honeybee breed is not a trivial task, but it was accomplished using the equations of classification function for each breed based on the set of the above characters. The character “wing length” proved to allow statistically significant discrimination among at least half of the families in each breed.