Apis florea

About: Apis florea is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 354 publications have been published within this topic receiving 5604 citations. The topic is also known as: Asian dwarf honey bee.

Biogeography and Taxonomy of Honeybees

Abstract: I Honeybees of the World.- 1 The Genus Apis.- 2 Stingless Bees (Meliponinae).- 3 Evolution.- 4 Geographic Variability.- 5 Methods of Honeybee Taxonomy: Past and Present.- 6 Morphometric Analysis and Classification.- 7 Apis florea Fabricius 1787: 305.- 8 Apis dorsata Fabricius 1793: 328.- 9 Apis cerana Fabricius 1793: 327.- II The Western Honeybee Apis mellifera L. Classification and Natural History.- 10 Apis mellifera Linnaeus 1758: 576 General Introduction to a Polymorphic Species with an Unusual Range of Adaptation.- 11 The Races of the Near East (Irano-Ponto-Mediterranean Area).- 12 Honeybees of Tropical Africa.- 13 Honeybees of the Western Mediterranean.- 14 Honeybees of the Central Mediterranean and Southeastern Europe.- References.

Asian Honey Bees: Biology, Conservation, and Human Interactions

Abstract: Foreword by Thomas D. Seeley Preface 1. To Be a Honey Bee 2. Introduction to the Species 3. Evolution 4. Speciation and Biogeography 5. Dance Communication and Foraging 6. Reproduction, Swarming, and Migration 7. Worker Sterility, Kin Selection, and Polyandry 8. Nesting Biology and Nest Defense 9. Parasites, Pathogens, Predators, and a Plant 10. Human Interactions 11. Conservation 12. Concluding Remarks Appendix A. A Simple Key to the Workers of the Genus Apis Appendix B. A Simple Key to the Parasitic Mesostigmatan Mites of Asian Honey Bees Appendix C. The Names of the Honey Bee Species in Asian Languages Glossary References Index

Colony Defense Strategies of the Honeybees in Thailand

Abstract: The colony defense strategies of the three honeybee species in Thailand were studied to examine the influence of predation on tropical honeybee societies. Each species focuses its defenses upon different stages in the predation sequence of detection—approach—consumption. This radiation in defense strategies apparently reflects each species' preadaptation by worker size (small, medium—sized, or large) and nest site (cavity or tree branch) to a different pattern of colony defense. Wasps, birds, and primates probably have difficulty finding the small, dispersed colonies of Apis florea, whose nests are built low on the branches of dense, shrubby vegetation. Once found, however, they are easily approached and overpowered because their low, exposed nests are accessible and their small workers inflict relatively painless stings. When overwhelmed, the bees quickly abandon their nest; later, they return to salvage wax. Ants find A. florea nests easily and at least one species (Oecophylla smaragdina) easily kills these small bees. However, sticky bands of resin encircling the nests' slender substrate branches prevent ants from invading A. florea nests. Cavity—nesting colonies of Apis cerana are conspicuous with their medium—sized bees streaming in and out of low, clearly visible entrance holes in caves and hollow tress. However, gaining access to A. cerana nests is difficult. Large predators cannot pass through the small entrance opening and small predators are overpowered by entrance guards. But if a large predator can breach a nest cavity's walls, it faces an only moderately powerful stinging defense. Apis cerana colonies are relatively small and their workers are not fiercely aggressive. Predators easily find the large, sometimes aggregated colonies of Apis dorsata, whose nests hang in the crowns of the tallest forest trees. But only skilled fliers and climbers can reach these lofty nests. Those which do face massive stinging attacks from the large colonies of these relatively giant, ferocious bees. Nests of both open—nesting species, Apis florea and A. dorsata, are protected by a three— to six—layer curtain of bees over the comb. Apis cerana colonies lack these curtains but are protected by their nest cavity walls. A curtain of inactive guards requires a large labor force. The high worker: brood ratio in A. florea relative to A. cerana colonies suggests that the age polyethism schedules of the open— and cavity—nesting species are tuned differently to generate the appropriate proportions of guard bees. Each species' colony defense system consists of numerous interwoven lines of adaptation, including nest site, nest architecture, colony population, labor allocation to defense, age polyethism schedule, colony mobility, and worker morphology, physiology, and behavior. Predation has been a pervasive and powerful force in the evolution of these tropical bee societies.

Reproductive isolation among species of the genus Apis

Abstract: In the 1960s, research on reproductive isolation in honeybees started with the pioneering work on Apis cerana and A. mellifera of F. Ruttner. Since then, the number of recognised Apis species increased from four to nine, and data on reproductive isolation played a key role in this development. In this paper, we discuss the behavioural mating barriers (mating season, mating place, sexual signals, daily mating periods), copulatory barriers (size, genitalia, mating sign) and physiological barriers (sperm transfer, sperm storage) and postzygotic barriers (fertilisation, development, hybrids). Allopatric A. mellifera and allopatric populations of the other species had a uniform mating period dur- ing the afternoon hours. Sympatric honeybee species were separated mainly by different daily mat- ing periods. The mating period differed between populations of the same species from different regions. The sequence of the mating periods, however, described from Sri Lanka, Thailand and Sabah (Borneo) followed the same pattern and showed a taxonomic and size correlation: the dwarf bees (A. andreniformis and/or Apis florea) occupied the first position shortly after noon. The next mat- ing period was occupied by cavity-dwelling bees and at sunset, A. dorsata drones flew out for mat- ing. In addition, in the honeybee species that have been studied, various non behavioural mating barriers have been demonstrated. reproductive isolation / Apis / mating behaviour / genitalia / hybrid

Dance dialects and foraging range in three Asian honey bee species

Abstract: We measured the “distance dialects” in the dance languages of three honey bee species in Thailand (Apis florea, A. cerana, and A. dorsata), and used these dialects to examine the hypothesis that a colony's dialect is adaptively “tuned” to enhance efficiency of communication over the distances that its foragers typically fly. in contrast to previous interspecific comparisons in Sri Lanka (Lindauer 1956; Punchihewa et al. 1985), we found no striking dialect differences among the Asian bees in Thailand. The adaptive tuning hypothesis predicts that the foraging ranges of the three species should also be similar, but comparisons of colonial foraging range using the “forage mapping” technique (Visscher and Seeley 1982) actually revealed marked differences. This raises the possibility that the link between ecology and distance code is more subtle than previously supposed, if a link exists at all.