Taxonomy
Family: Apidae
Subfamily: Apinae
Tribe: Apini Latreille, 1802
Genus: Apis Linnaeus, 1758
Subgenus: Apis (Apis) Linnaeus, 1758
Species: Apis koschevnikovi Enderlein, 1906
Common names: red honey bee, red hive bee, red cavity nesting honey bee
Overview
Apis koschevnikovi is somewhat distinctive due to its reddish
metasomametasoma:
the posterior part of the body
and legs. It is also known as the red bee of Sabah; however, according to Hadisoesilo et al. (2008), its color changes with its distribution. It is pale reddish in the Sabah State or Borneo, Malaysia, but it has a dark, more coppery color in the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra, Indonesia. The body size of the worker is moderate (forewing length between 7.5–9 mm). Drones of
A. koschevnikovi have a mating flight time that is different to the
sympatricsympatric:
overlapping geographic distribution
A. cerana drones (Koeniger et al. 1988).
A. koschevnikovi is the host of the mite
Varroa rinderi (De Guzman and Delfinado-
Baker 1996Baker 1996:
Baker, D.B. 1996. An annotated list of the nominal species assigned to the genus Afrostelis Cockerell (Hymenoptera, Apoidea, Megachilidae). Deutsche Entomologische Zeitschrift 43: 155ndash;157.).
Diagnostic characteristics
- Hind wing with distaldistal:
place on a segment that is furthest from the place of attachment with the body
abscissaabscissa:
veins that help define wing cells
of vein M present (same as in Apis cerana).
- Mesoscutellum of the female worker yellowish-red (Fig 3 and 10).
- Drones with hairy fringe on the margin of the metatibia (setae along the posterior edge are much longer than the others) and with tarsitarsi:
the group of segments at the end of the leg following the tibia
unmodified (Fig 8).
- Drones with unique endophallusendophallus:
the inner chamber of the phallus invaginated at the end of the aedeagus, into which the ejaculatory duct opens; typically an eversible sac or tube, but sometimes a permanently internal phallic structure
(Tingek et al. 1988Tingek et al. 1988:
Tingek S., M. Mardan, G. Rinderer, N. Koeniger, and G. Koeniger. 1988. Rediscovery of Apis vechti (Maa, 1953): the Sabah honey bee. Apidologie 19: 97ndash;102.).
- 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 pairs of stylet barbs (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.) (Fig 11).
- 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 = 45.30µm (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. koschevnikovi is a generalist and will exploit a large variety of plant resources for food.
Nesting behavior
Like all species in the subgenus Apis (Apis), nests of A. koschevnikovi are built in cavities (Rinderer et al. 1989). Drone cell caps have a distinctive pore.
Very little is known about the biology, ecology, and natural history of this species (Rinderer et al. 1989); however, Engel (2012) reported that it prefers tropical evergreen forests.
Distribution
The red honey bee can be found in Malaysia, Borneo, Sumatra, Java, and Kalimatan (Tingek et al. 1996Tingek et al. 1996:
Tingek S., G. Koeniger, and N. Koeniger. 1996. Description of a new cavity-nesting species of Apis ( Apis nuluensis n.sp.) from Sabah, Borneo, with notes on its occurrence and reproductive biology. Senckenbergiana Biologica 76: 115ndash;119., Radloff et al. 2011Radloff et al. 2011:
Radloff, S.E., H.R. Hepburn, and M.S. Engel. 2011. The Asian species of Apis . In: Hepburn, H. R. amp; S. E. Radloff (eds.). 2011. Honeybees of Asia. Springer-Verlag, Berlin. Chapter 1. Pp. 1ndash;22., Gupta 2014Gupta 2014:
Gupta, R.K. 2014. Taxonomy and distribution of different honeybee species. In: Gupta R.K., Reybroeck W., van Veen J. W. amp; A. Gupta (eds): Beekeeping for poverty alleviation and livelihood security Vol.1: Technological aspects of beekeeping. Pp. 63ndash;103.). According to Rinderer (1988), the range and the population size of A. koschevnikovi are among the most important issues that require study for this species.
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References
Arias M. C. and W. S. Sheppard. 1996. Molecular phylogenetics of honeybee subspecies (
Apis mellifera L.) inferred from mitochondrial DNA sequences. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 5:557–566.
Engel M. S. 2012. The honey bees of Indonesia (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Treubia 39:41–49.
Gupta, R. K. 2014. Taxonomy and distribution of different honeybee species. In: Gupta R.K., W.
Reybroeck, J.W. van Veen, and A. Gupta (eds.): Beekeeping for poverty alleviation and livelihood security Vol.1: Technological aspects of beekeeping. Pp. 63–103.
Hadisoesilo S., R. Raffiudin. W. Susanti, T. Atmowidi, C. Hepburn, S. Radloff, S. Fuchs, and R.H. Hepburn. 2008.
MorphometricMorphometric:
from the Greek: "morph," meaning "shape," and "metron," meaning "measurement." Different schools of morphometrics are characterized by what aspects of biological "form" 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 "allometry," 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
analysis and biogeography of
Apis koschevnikovi Enderlein (1906). Apidologie 39: 495–503.
Hepburn H.R. and C. Hepburn. 2007. Bibliography of
Apis koschevnikovi Enderlein (1906). Apidologie 38(6): 507.
Koeniger N., G. Koeniger, S. Tingek, and A. Kelitu. 1996. Interspecific rearing and acceptance of queens between
Apis cerana Fabricius, 1793 and
Apis koschevnikovi Buttel-Reepen, 1906. Apidologie 27(5):371–380.
Raffiudin R. and R. H. Cozier. 2007. Phylogenetic analysis of honeybee behavioral evolution. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 43:543–552.
Radloff S. E., H.R. Hepburn, and M.S. Engel. 2011. The Asian species of
Apis. In: Hepburn, H. R. and S. E. Radloff (eds.). Honeybees of Asia. Springer-Verlag, Berlin. Chapter 1. Pp. 1–22.
Riderer, T. E. 1988. The rediscovery of
Apis koschevnikovi. American Bee Journal 128:807.
Ruttner F., D. Kauhausen, and N. Koeniger. 1989. Position of the Red Honey bee,
Apis koschevnikovi (Buttel-Reepen 1906), within the Genus
Apis. Apidologie 20(5): 395–404.
Sulistiano, A. 1990.
MorphometricMorphometric:
from the Greek: "morph," meaning "shape," and "metron," meaning "measurement." Different schools of morphometrics are characterized by what aspects of biological "form" 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 "allometry," 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
analysis of Indonesian honeybees. Thesis. University of Wales College, Cardiff. 85p.
Takahashi J-I., J. Nakamura, M. Sasaki, S. Tingek, and S.I. Akimoto. 2002. New haplotypes for the non-coding region of mitochondrial DNA in cavity-nesting honey bees
Apis koschevnikovi and
Apis nuluensis. Apidologie 33(1):25–31.
Tingek S., M. Mardan, G. Rinderer, N. Koeniger, and G. Koeniger. 1988. Rediscovery of
Apis vechti (Maa, 1953): the Sabah honey bee. Apidologie 19:97–102.
Tingek S., G. Koeniger, and N. Koeniger. 1996. Description of a new cavity-nesting species of
Apis (
Apis nuluensis n.sp.) from Sabah, Borneo, with notes on its occurrence and reproductive biology. Senckenbergiana Biologica 76:115–119.
