Apis florea

Taxonomy

Family: Apidae
Subfamily: Apinae
Tribe: Apini Latreille, 1802
Genus: Apis Linnaeus, 1758
Subgenus: Apis (Micrapis) Ashmead, 1904
Species: Apis florea Fabricius, 1787
Common name: red dwarf honey bee

Overview

Apis florea is commonly known as the red dwarf honey bee. This species is among the smallest honey bees (body length of 7–10 mm, forewing length close to 6.8 mm), and along with Apis andreniformis constitute the subgenus A. (Micrapis). Wongsiri, et al. (1996) listed all the differences among the two species in the subgenus (see also fact sheet for subgenus Apis (Micrapis)).

Diagnostic characteristics

• Worker forewing length between 6.2–6.8 mm.
• Drones with hind leg basitarsusbasitarsus:
  the segment of the tarsus that is the nearest to the body of the bee, usually the largest of all the tarsal segments
  process (digit present); digit long, more than 2/3rds the length of the metabasitarsusmetabasitarsus:
  the basitarsi on the hind legs
  (Fig 7).
• Female worker with metatibia and dorsolateral margin of metabasitarsusmetabasitarsus:
  the basitarsi on the hind legs
  with white setaesetae:
  a still hair-like structure or bristle
  (Fig 8).
• Metasomal T1T1:
  the segments on the top side of the abdomen, often abbreviated when referring to a specific segment to T1, T2, T3, T4, T5, T6, or T7
  and T2T2:
  the segments on the top side of the abdomen, often abbreviated when referring to a specific segment to T1, T2, T3, T4, T5, T6, or T7
  reddish-orange to reddish-brown (Fig 3 and 9).
• Sting apparatus with 10 lancetlancet:
  apical part of the first valvula [= the first valvifer, which originated from the appendage of the 7th gastral segment, has commonly been referred to as the triangular plate or gonoplac which basally, gives rise to the first valvula which is a long thin process. The basal part of the first valvula is the first ramus and the more apical part the lancet, which itself gives rise to the valvilli (or lancet valves)].
  barbs and 4–5 pairs of stylet barbs (Jayasvasti and Wongsiri 1992Jayasvasti and Wongsiri 1992:
  Jayasvasti, S., and S. Wongsiri. 1992. Scanning electron microscopy analysis of honeybees ( Apis florea , Apis dorsata , Apis cerana , Apis mellifera , Apis andreniformis and Apis koschevnikovi ) stings. Recent Advances in Toxicology Research 2: 193ndash;204.) (Fig 12).
• Distance from tip of lancetlancet:
  apical part of the first valvula [= the first valvifer, which originated from the appendage of the 7th gastral segment, has commonly been referred to as the triangular plate or gonoplac which basally, gives rise to the first valvula which is a long thin process. The basal part of the first valvula is the first ramus and the more apical part the lancet, which itself gives rise to the valvilli (or lancet valves)].
  to the first barb = 42.59 µm (Jayasvasti and Wongsiri 1993Jayasvasti and Wongsiri 1993:
  Jayasvasti, S., and S. Wongsiri. 1993. Scanning electron microscopy analysis of honey bee - stings of six species ( Apis florea , Apis dorsata , Apis cerana , Apis koschevnikovi , Apis florea, and Apis andreniformis ). Honeybee Science 14: 105ndash;109.).

Host associations

As with all species of honey bees, A. florea is generalist and visits a broad range of plants for food.

Nesting behavior

Nests of A. florea are exposed and made up of a single horizontal comb that is built around and attached to tree branches or other support. Nests are often shaded and built in thickets and are not uncommon around human settlements and manmade structures. In the wild, they tend to be found more often in savannah woodlands, forests, or disturbed areas (Engel 2012Engel 2012:
Engel M. S. 2012. The honey bees of Indonesia (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Treubia 39: 41ndash;49.).

Diversity

Morphological analysis by Ruttner (1988) had shown some geographic variability among populations of A. florea that can be organized in three monoclusters: one found in Sri Lanka and southern India, one distributed in Iran, Oman, and Pakistan, and the third in Thailand.

More locally, in Iran, the analysis by Tahmasebi, et al. (2002) showed two monoclusters in a geographical continuum: a western group of larger bees at higher latitudes and a lower latitude group of smaller bees to the east.

A multivariate analysis by Chaiyawong, et al. (2004) for populations of Thailand also showed some variation; more recently Hepburn, et al. (2005) produced a more comprehensive morphometricmorphometric:
from the Greek: &quot;morph,&quot; meaning &quot;shape,&quot; and &quot;metron,&quot; meaning &quot;measurement.&quot; Different schools of morphometrics are characterized by what aspects of biological &quot;form&quot; they are concerned with, what they choose to measure, and what kinds of biostatistical questions they ask of the measurements once they are made; such as configurations of landmarks from whole organs or organisms analyzed by appropriately invariant biometric methods (covariances of taxon, size, etc.) and in order to answer biological questions. Another sort of morphometrics studies tissue sections, measures the densities of points and curves, and uses these patterns to answer questions about the random processes that may be controlling the placement of cellular structures. A third, the method of &quot;allometry,&quot; measures sizes of separate organs and asks questions about their correlations with each other and with measures of total size. There are many others.</p
database that included data from Ruttner (1988), Tahmasebi, et al. (2002), Mogga and Ruttner (1988) and Chaiyawong, et al. (2004) with the aim of filling in the geographic gaps of previous studies. They provided morphometricmorphometric:
from the Greek: &quot;morph,&quot; meaning &quot;shape,&quot; and &quot;metron,&quot; meaning &quot;measurement.&quot; Different schools of morphometrics are characterized by what aspects of biological &quot;form&quot; they are concerned with, what they choose to measure, and what kinds of biostatistical questions they ask of the measurements once they are made; such as configurations of landmarks from whole organs or organisms analyzed by appropriately invariant biometric methods (covariances of taxon, size, etc.) and in order to answer biological questions. Another sort of morphometrics studies tissue sections, measures the densities of points and curves, and uses these patterns to answer questions about the random processes that may be controlling the placement of cellular structures. A third, the method of &quot;allometry,&quot; measures sizes of separate organs and asks questions about their correlations with each other and with measures of total size. There are many others.</p
data for populations across the entire distribution range of A. florea.

Known invasives

This species invaded the African continent in the 1980s (Bezabih et al. 2014Bezabih et al. 2014:
Bezabih G., N. Adgaba, H.R. Hepburn, and C.W.W. Pirk. 2014. The territorial invasion of Apis florea in Africa. African Entomology 22 (4): 888ndash;890.) and has expanded its natural distribution in to the Arabian Peninsula and the Middle East (Hepburn et al. 2005Hepburn et al. 2005:
Hepburn, H.R., B. Radloff, G.W. Otis, S. Fuchs, L.R. Verma, T. Ken, T. Chaiyawong, G. Tahmaseb, R. Ebadi, and S. Wongsiri. 2005. Apis florea : morphometrics, classification and biogeography. Apidologie 36: 359ndash;376., Haddad et al. 2009Haddad et al. 2009:
Haddad, N. S. Fuchs, H.R. Hepburn, and S.E. Radloff. 2009. Apis florea in Jordan: source of the founder population. Apidologie 40: 508ndash;512.).

Distribution

According to Hepburn, et al. (2005), A. florea extends 7000 km from its eastern-most extreme in Vietnam and southeastern China, across mainland Asia, along and below the southern flanks of the Himalayas, westwards to the Plateau of Iran, and southerly into Oman. This constitutes 70 degrees of longitude (40°–110° East) and nearly 30 degrees of latitude (6°–34° North). Variations in altitude range from sea level to about 2000 m. A. florea has also been introduced in historical times in Saudi Arabia and Sudan, and occurred on Java, Indonesia up until ~50 years ago.

​Distribution map generated by Discover Life -- click on map for details, credits, and terms of use.

References

Bezabih G., N. Adgaba, H.R. Hepburn, and C.W.W. Pirk. 2014. The territorial invasion of Apis florea in Africa. African Entomology 22(4): 888–890
 
Chaiyawong T., S. Deowanish, S. Wongsiri, H.E. Sylvester, T.E. Rinderer, and L. de Guzman. 2004. Multivariate morphometricmorphometric:
from the Greek: &quot;morph,&quot; meaning &quot;shape,&quot; and &quot;metron,&quot; meaning &quot;measurement.&quot; Different schools of morphometrics are characterized by what aspects of biological &quot;form&quot; they are concerned with, what they choose to measure, and what kinds of biostatistical questions they ask of the measurements once they are made; such as configurations of landmarks from whole organs or organisms analyzed by appropriately invariant biometric methods (covariances of taxon, size, etc.) and in order to answer biological questions. Another sort of morphometrics studies tissue sections, measures the densities of points and curves, and uses these patterns to answer questions about the random processes that may be controlling the placement of cellular structures. A third, the method of &quot;allometry,&quot; measures sizes of separate organs and asks questions about their correlations with each other and with measures of total size. There are many others.</p
study of Apis florea in Thailand. Journal of Apicultural Research 43(3): 123-127.
 
Engel, M. S. 2012. The honey bees of Indonesia (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Treubia 39:41-49.
 
Haddad N., S. Fuchs, H.R. Hepburn, and S. E. Radloff. 2009. Apis florea in Jordan: source of the founder population. Apidologie 40: 508–512.
 
Hepburn H.R., S.E. Radloff, G.W. Otis, E. Fuchs, L.R. Verma, T. Ken, T. Chaiyawong, G. Tahmasebi, R. Ebadi, and S. Wongsiri. 2005. Apis florea: morphometrics, classification and biogeography. Apidologie 36(3):359–376.
 
Mogga, J. and F. Ruttner. 1988. Apis florea in Africa: source of the founder population. Bee World 69:100–103.
 
Ruttner, F. 1988. Biogeography and taxonomy of honeybees. Springer, Berlin- New York. 284pp.
 
Tahmasebi G., R. Ebadi, N. Tajabadi, M. Akhoundi, and S. Faraji. 2002. The effects of geographical and climatological conditions on the morphological variation and separation of Iranian small honeybee (Apis florea F.) populations. Journal of Science and Technology of Agriculture and Natural Resources 6:169–176.