Morphometric and molecular characterization of Eastern honey bee, Apis cerana F. populations in the Northeast Himalayas

Abstract

Morphometric and molecular characterization of honeybees from five different physiographic zones of northeast India viz. Arunachal Himalaya, Brahmaputra valley, Barak valley, Meghalaya plateau and South-Eastern hill tract have been carried out in the Department of Entomology and Agricultural Biotechnology, Assam Agricultural University during the period 2011-2015. Morphometric analysis of 1551 individual Apis cerana workers from 50 locations revealed that, bees from Arunachal Himalaya has the largest body length (9.58±0.03 mm), and the smallest was found in Barak valley (8.23±0.01 mm), followed by South-eastern hill tract (9.18±0.01mm), Meghalaya plateau (9.04±0.01mm) and Brahmaputra valley (8.62±0.02mm). Cluster analysis of Apis cerana showed that maximum euclidean distance was found between Rangia and Hailakandi (11.73) and minimum distance had been observed between Nongpoh and Umiam (1.55). The genetic similarity between Basar and Itanagar of A. cerana was found to be maximum (81.8 per cent) while minimum (14.7 per cent) was recorded between Katlicherra and Roing. Based on morphometric and molecular analysis, two distinct morphoclusters of Apis cerana have been identified i.e., Plains and Hill races. Morphocluster designation is related to physiographic differences which create a partial temporal reproductive isolation associated with altitudes.