Apis mellifera intermissa

Apis mellifera intermissa is an African sub-species of the Western honey bee.

Description

Previously classified as A.M.intermissa v. Buttel-Reepen ^[1][2] a reviewed classification of genus instead states the sub-species as A.M.intermissa v.Maa (M.S.Engel 1999)^[3][4] Found in the south of Spain ^[5] and the (Maghreb) north of the Sahara desert in Africa, ranging from the east (Libya) to the west (Morocco), ^[6][7] and is adapted to dry climates. ^[2] This bee has a black-brown and orange striated abdomen and black-brown thorax with orange fur. ^{[8][9][10][11]}

Taxonomy

In a comparitive study of five sub-species and A.m.iberica (Smith,Palopoli,Taylor,Garnery,Cornuet,Solignac,Brown 1991) cleavage maps obtained through the use of restriction enzyme ^[12] showed the Spanish Honey bee contains mtDNA similar to intermissa and also mellifera. ^[5] Additionally A.m.intermissa belongs to a group shown by experiment to have similar mtD.N.A (mitochondrian D.N.A.),this including monticola, scuttelata,andansonii and capensis ^{[13] [14] [15]}

In Spanish bee populations, mtDNA haplotypes of African bee strains were found to be frequently present (Smith 1991, Garnery et al 1995) (Cornuet et al 1975,1978, 1982, 1988; Ruttner 1988;Cornuet and Fresnaye 1989;Orante-Bermejos and Garcia-Fernandez 1995; Hepburn and Radloff 1996), migration of bee populations formed the original colonies of bee in western Europe, landing to eventually populate the continent from Africa across the Straits of Gibraltar.^[16]

See also

• intermissa
• Linnaeus

References