The Classic Taxonomy of Asian and European Honey Bees

Abstract

D. Kauhausen-Keller et al. carried out morphometric studies on the micro taxonomy of the Apis mellifera species. Geometric morphometrics analysis of wing shape could be used as a reliable and powerful tool to discriminate among honey bee subspecies, to evaluate and resolve the subspecific taxonomy of honey bees, and may have advantages over classical morphometry. The best approach would be to bring together morphometric and genetic methods to help answer questions of systematics and taxonomy in many insect groups, including A. mellifera. The chapter presents classical morphometric and geometric morphometric studies on the lineages and subspecies of the European honey bee, A. mellifera. Classical morphometry, based on measurement of morphometric characters, has been widely used to first distinguish the subspecies and then group them into evolutionary lineages. The earlier methods of classifying honey bees were based mainly on qualitative descriptions of morphology.