The cavity‐nesting honeybee Apis cerana occurs in Asia, from Afghanistan to China and from Japan to southern Indonesia. Based on morphometric values, this species can be grouped into four subspecies: A. c. cerana, A. c. indica, A. c. japonica and A. c. himalaya. In order to analyse the geographical variability of A. c. indica from the Philippine Islands, 47 colonies from different locations in three of the larger islands (Mindanao, Luzon and Palawan) and four of the Visayan Islands (Panay, Negros, Cebu and Leyte) were studied. Genetic variation was estimated by restriction and sequence analysis of PCR‐amplified fragments of the tRNAleu–COII region. We found four different haplotypes, Ce1, Ce2, Ce3 and Ce4, that discriminate among the bee populations from different islands. The Ce1 haplotype is present in Mindanao and Visayan Islands, Ce2 is restricted to Luzon, and both Ce3 and Ce4 are only present in Palawan. Phylogenetic analysis of the sequences shows a great intraspecific variability, is in accordance with the geological history of these islands and partially agrees with some previous morphological and molecular studies.

counterpart, A. mellifera L., the understanding of its taxonomy and biology is only in the beginning. Early taxonomists like Maa [11] had split up the eastern cavitynesting bees into 11 species and several subspecies. Based on groups generated by Abstract -The diversity of Apis cerana Fabr. in the Philippines was studied using morphometric methods. A total of 101 samples of A. cerana from feral and hived colonies, and foragers were collected throughout the Philippine archipelago. The 39 morphometric characters recommended by Ruttner and Ruttner et al. were measured. The data were statistically analyzed by means of factor analysis, discriminant analysis, and cluster analysis. The bees from Palawan were unequivocally distinct and separate from the other Philippine samples. The bees from the other Philippine islands still showed a high degree of variation. The bees of Luzon differed clearly from those of Visayas and Mindanao. Within Luzon, the bees from the highland differed clearly from those in the lowland and were regarded as separate groups. Bees from Visayas and Mindanao were still very variable and showed potential for further sub-structuring. The present analysis could not distinguish whether the difference between Luzon and Visayas-Mindanao was based on a north-south clinal structure, or on distinct groups. INTRODUCTION Apis ceranaApis cerana / Philippines / morphometry / biogeography