Apis nigrocincta is a species of
honey beeHoney bees are a subset of bees, primarily distinguished by the production and storage of honey and the construction of perennial, colonial nests out of wax. Honey bees are the only extant members of the tribe Apini, all in the genus Apis...
that inhabits the
PhilippineThe Philippines officially known as the Republic of the Philippines, is a country in Southeast Asia with Manila as its capital city. It comprises 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean....
island of
MindanaoMindanao is the second largest and easternmost island in the Philippines. It is also one of the three island groups in the country, along with Luzon and Visayas...
as well as the
IndonesianThe Republic of Indonesia is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia comprises 17,508 islands. With an estimated population of around 237 million people, it is the world's fourth most populous country, with the world's largest population of Muslims.Indonesia is a republic, with an...
islands of Sangihe and the
CelebesSulawesi is one of the four larger Sunda Islands of Indonesia and is situated between Borneo and the Maluku Islands.- Etymology :...
or
SulawesiSulawesi is one of the four larger Sunda Islands of Indonesia and is situated between Borneo and the Maluku Islands.- Etymology :...
.
The species builds nests in cavities like the closely related
Apis ceranaApis cerana, or the Asiatic honey bee , are small honey bees of southern and southeastern Asia, such as China, India, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal, Bangladesh and Papua New Guinea...
. In fact, there are few substantial differences between the two species: the genitals of the respective
droneDrones are male honey bees. Drones develop from eggs that have not been fertilized.-Drone Genetics:Drones carry only one type of allele because they are haploid ; thus, they are also called hemizygous...
s, for instance, are identical. However, there are small
morphologicalIn biology morphology is the form, structure and configuration of an organism.This includes aspects of the outward appearance as well as the form and structure of the internal parts like bones and organs...
differences, genetic
polymorphismPolymorphism in biology occurs when two or more clearly different phenotypes exist in the same population of a species — in other words, the occurrence of more than one form or morph...
in the
mitochondrial DNAMitochondrial DNA is the DNA located in organelles called mitochondria, structures within cells that convert the energy from food into a form that cells can use...
, as well as behavioral differences.
In areas where the
A.
Apis nigrocincta is a species of
honey beeHoney bees are a subset of bees, primarily distinguished by the production and storage of honey and the construction of perennial, colonial nests out of wax. Honey bees are the only extant members of the tribe Apini, all in the genus Apis...
that inhabits the
PhilippineThe Philippines officially known as the Republic of the Philippines, is a country in Southeast Asia with Manila as its capital city. It comprises 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean....
island of
MindanaoMindanao is the second largest and easternmost island in the Philippines. It is also one of the three island groups in the country, along with Luzon and Visayas...
as well as the
IndonesianThe Republic of Indonesia is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia comprises 17,508 islands. With an estimated population of around 237 million people, it is the world's fourth most populous country, with the world's largest population of Muslims.Indonesia is a republic, with an...
islands of Sangihe and the
CelebesSulawesi is one of the four larger Sunda Islands of Indonesia and is situated between Borneo and the Maluku Islands.- Etymology :...
or
SulawesiSulawesi is one of the four larger Sunda Islands of Indonesia and is situated between Borneo and the Maluku Islands.- Etymology :...
.
The species builds nests in cavities like the closely related
Apis ceranaApis cerana, or the Asiatic honey bee , are small honey bees of southern and southeastern Asia, such as China, India, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal, Bangladesh and Papua New Guinea...
. In fact, there are few substantial differences between the two species: the genitals of the respective
droneDrones are male honey bees. Drones develop from eggs that have not been fertilized.-Drone Genetics:Drones carry only one type of allele because they are haploid ; thus, they are also called hemizygous...
s, for instance, are identical. However, there are small
morphologicalIn biology morphology is the form, structure and configuration of an organism.This includes aspects of the outward appearance as well as the form and structure of the internal parts like bones and organs...
differences, genetic
polymorphismPolymorphism in biology occurs when two or more clearly different phenotypes exist in the same population of a species — in other words, the occurrence of more than one form or morph...
in the
mitochondrial DNAMitochondrial DNA is the DNA located in organelles called mitochondria, structures within cells that convert the energy from food into a form that cells can use...
, as well as behavioral differences.
In areas where the
A. cerana and
A. nigrocincta live together, they can most immediately be distinguished by their coloration and size:
A. cerana tends to be darker and smaller, while
A. nigrocincta tends to be larger and have a yellowish
clypeusThe clypeus is one of the sclerites that makes up the "face" of an insect. In general, the clypeus delimits the lower margin of the face, with the labrum articulated along the ventral margin of the clypeus. The mandibles bracket the labrum, but do not touch the clypeus. The dorsal margin of the...
(the lower area of the face). They can best (reliably) be differentiated using morphometrics, which can also be used to identify
morphologicallyIn biology morphology is the form, structure and configuration of an organism.This includes aspects of the outward appearance as well as the form and structure of the internal parts like bones and organs...
distinct populations in both species.
The architecture of the colonies is also a point of difference: the opening of the drone cell of
A. cerana is covered in wax, under which there is a conical cocoon with a central hole or pore. In
A. nigrocincta, however, the cell of the drone has a narrow opening, without a hard wax cap and hole. In addition, the queens of
A. nigrocincta generally create colonies with greater numbers of drones than those of
A. cerana.
Another noticeable behavioral difference between the species is the time of day at which they prefer to gather pollen.
A. nigrocincta contracts the parasite-caused honey bee disease Varroatosis by playing host to the species of
Varroa miteVarroa is a genus of parasitic mites associated with honey bees. The genus was named for Marcus Terentius Varro, a Roman scholar who was also a beekeeper.Selected species...
known as
Varroa underwoodi. In this way, they are similar to
Apis cerana nuluensisApis cerana nuluensis is a subspecies of honey bee described in 1996 by Tingek, Koeniger & Koeniger. The geographic distribution of the subspecies is the south-east Asian island of Borneo, politically divided between Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei....
, which is also susceptible to the same species of parasite.
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