Geographical Variation of Honey Bee (Apis mellifera L. 1758) Populations in South-Eastern Morocco: A Geometric Morphometric Analysis.

ABSTRACT: In Morocco, there are two well-recognised honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) subspecies: A. m. intermissa in the north and A. m. sahariensis in the south-east. The latter subspecies is found in the arid and semiarid climates of the Sahara Desert. In this study, we used honey bees from four areas of south-eastern Morocco which are, to some degree, isolated by arid zones. We analysed the shape and size of the forewings, using the method of geometric morphometrics. The bees from the four areas of south-eastern Morocco differed significantly in terms of wing shape. Moreover, bees from traditional hives were smaller than those from modern hives. The bees from south-eastern Morocco were clearly different from the reference samples obtained from the Morphometric Bee Data Bank in Oberursel, Germany, re

SUBMITTER: Aglagane A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8953116 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature