Reevaluation of honeybee (Apis mellifera) microtaxonomy: a geometric morphometric approach

In the present study, the microtaxonomy of honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) subspecies was reevaluated based on a geometric morphometric method. Wing images of honeybee subspecies, obtained from the Morphometric Bee Data Bank in Oberursel, Germany, were assigned to four honeybee lineages from the indivudial images, and 40 Cartesian coordinates were obtained. Honeybee lineages were significantly different based on individual and colony consensus average wing shapes of honeybee subspecies (P < 0.001). According to the discriminant function analysis of honeybee lineages, the A lineage and M lineage showed some degree of overlap. Multivariate statistical analysis displayed that Apis mellifera intermissa, a member of M lineage, seemed to belong to the A lineage. In addition, Apis mellifera sicula, a member of C lineage; Apis mellifera sahariensis, a member of M lineage; and Apis mellifera syriaca, a member of O lineage, were located closer to the A lineage rather than to their own lineages. In the previous studies, the results of principal component analysis of morphometric data and the mtDNA analysis of honeybee subspecies supported these subspecific affinities. Thus, geometric morphometric analysis of wing shape could be used as a reliable tool to discriminate among honeybee subspecies and may have advantages over standard morphometry.