The honeybees, Apis mellifera Linnaeus (Hymenoptera: Apidae) of woodland savanna of southeastern Africa

Abstract

The morphometric characters and sting pheromones of worker honeybees, Apis mellifera Linnaeus, were analysed by multivariate methods to identify discrete populations in the southeastern woodland savanna of Africa. A discrete population in Mozambique is classified as A. m. litorea Smith, a second in Zimbabwe as A. m. scutellata Lepeletier and a third group in southwestern Zambia as A.m. adansonii Latreille. A zone of introgression between the last two subspecies occurs in south-central Zambia and in the Zambezi Valley.