Geographical distribution of the giant honey bee Apis laboriosa Smith, 1871 (Hymenoptera, Apidae)

Abstract

Worldwide pollinator declines have dramatically increased our need to survey and monitor pollinator distributions and abundances. The giant honey bee, Apis laboriosa, is one of the important pollinators at higher altitudes of the Himalayas. This species has a restricted distribution along the Himalayas and neighbouring mountain ranges of Asia. Previous assessments of its distribution, published more than 20 years ago, were based on museum specimens. Since then, 244 additional localities have been revealed through field trips by the authors, publications, and websites. We present a revised distribution for A. laboriosa that better defines its range and extends it eastward to the mountains of northern Vietnam, southward along the Arakan Mountains to west-central Myanmar, into the Shillong Hills of Meghalaya, India, and northwestward in Uttarakhand, India. This species is generally found at elevations between 1000–3000 m a.s.l.. In northeastern India A. laboriosa colonies occur during summer at sites as low as 850 m a.s.l. and some lower elevation colonies maintain their nests throughout the winter. Finally, we report three regions in Arunachal Pradesh, India, and nine locations in northern Vietnam, where we observed workers of A. laboriosa and A. dorsata foraging sympatrically; their co-occurrence supports the species status of Apis laboriosa.

Comparison of the mitochondrial genomes of three geographical strains of Apis laboriosa indicates high genetic diversity in the black giant honeybee (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

“…species can be influenced by altitudinal factors(Kitnya et al, 2020;Montero-Mendieta et al, 2019). As we know, A. laboriosa are mainlyF I G U R E 4 Phylogenetic relationship and geographical location of the black giant honeybees in this study.…”

Social insects and beyond: The physics of soft, dense invertebrate aggregations

“…In contrast, the connections between invertebrates that can grip each other with claws or adhesive pads on their legs (Foster et al, 2014), such as the fire ants (Solenopsis invicta) and Eciton army ants (Eciton burchellii) in Figure 2(c) and (d), and western honey bees, Giant honey bees, and Japanese honey bees (Apis mellifera, Apis dorsata, Apis cerana japonica) in Figure 2(e)-(g), are not limited to the geometry and (f). Giant honey bee (Apis dorsata) (Kitnya et al, 2020). (g).…”

Himalayan Giant Honey Bee, Cliff Honey Bee (suggested common names) Apis laboriosa Smith (Insecta: Hymenoptera: Apidae)

“…The scutellum (dorsal side of thorax) is dark brown to black with long yellowish hairs. All segments of the abdomen are dark (Kitnya et al, 2020) (Figure 4).…”