Apis koschevnikovi
Encyclopedia
Koschevnikov's bee, or Apis koschevnikovi, is a species of honey bee
which inhabits Malaysian and Indonesia
n Borneo
, where it lives conspecifically
with other honey bee species such as Apis cerana
(specifically A. c. nuluensis
).
The species was first described by Buttel-Reepen, who dedicated it to Grigory Aleksandrovich Kozhevnikov (1866–1933), a 19th century pioneer of honey bee morphology
. This was an invalid designation, however, and the name was first formally made available by Günther Enderlein
that same year, so Buttel-Reepen is not the author of the name (following the ICZN
). The species was described again by Maa in 1953, this time with the name Apis vechti. It was finally rediscovered by Tingek et al. in 1988.
A. koschevnikovi hosts a unique species of the honey bee parasitic mite genus Varroa
, named Varroa rindereri (Guzmán et al., 1996). Although this parasite species is quite similar to Varroa jacobsoni
it is perfectly differentiable. It has only been reported in colonies of A. koschevnikovi in Borneo and seems to be specific to that species, as it has yet to be observed crossing over to colonies of A. cerana, even when they live in the same apiary
.
Honey bee
Honey bees are a subset of bees in the genus Apis, 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...
which inhabits Malaysian and Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
n Borneo
Borneo
Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java Island, Indonesia, at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia....
, where it lives conspecifically
Conspecificity
Conspecificity is a concept in biology. Two or more individual organisms, populations, or taxa are conspecific if they belong to the same species....
with other honey bee species such as Apis cerana
Apis cerana
Apis cerana, or the Asiatic honey bee , is a species of honey bee found in southern and southeastern Asia, such as China, India, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal, Bangladesh and Papua New Guinea. This species is the sister species of Apis koschevnikovi, and both are in the same subgenus as the Western honey...
(specifically A. c. nuluensis
Apis cerana nuluensis
Apis 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....
).
The species was first described by Buttel-Reepen, who dedicated it to Grigory Aleksandrovich Kozhevnikov (1866–1933), a 19th century pioneer of honey bee morphology
Morphology (biology)
In biology, morphology is a branch of bioscience dealing with the study of the form and structure of organisms and their specific structural features....
. This was an invalid designation, however, and the name was first formally made available by Günther Enderlein
Günther Enderlein
Günther Enderlein was a German zoologist, entomologist and later a manufacturer of pharmaceutical products. Enderlein got some international renown because of his insect research but in Germany he became famous because of his concept of the pleomorphism of microorganisms and his hypotheses about...
that same year, so Buttel-Reepen is not the author of the name (following the ICZN
International Code of Zoological Nomenclature
The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature is a widely accepted convention in zoology that rules the formal scientific naming of organisms treated as animals...
). The species was described again by Maa in 1953, this time with the name Apis vechti. It was finally rediscovered by Tingek et al. in 1988.
A. koschevnikovi hosts a unique species of the honey bee parasitic mite genus Varroa
Varroa
Varroa is a genus of parasitic mites associated with honey bees, placed in its own family, Varroidae. The genus was named for Marcus Terentius Varro, a Roman scholar who was also a beekeeper.-History and behavior:...
, named Varroa rindereri (Guzmán et al., 1996). Although this parasite species is quite similar to Varroa jacobsoni
Varroa jacobsoni
Varroa jacobsoni is a species of mite that parasitises Apis cerana . The more damaging Varroa destructor was previously included under the name V. jacobsoni, but the two species can be separated on the basis of the DNA sequence of the cytochrome oxidase I gene in the mitochondrial DNA....
it is perfectly differentiable. It has only been reported in colonies of A. koschevnikovi in Borneo and seems to be specific to that species, as it has yet to be observed crossing over to colonies of A. cerana, even when they live in the same apiary
Apiary
An apiary is a place where beehives of honey bees are kept. Traditionally beekeepers paid land rent in honey for the use of small parcels. Some farmers will provide free apiary sites, because they need pollination, and farmers who need many hives often pay for them to be moved to the crops when...
.
External links
- Links to scholarly articles about Apis koschevnikovi
- New haplotypes for the non-coding region of mitochondrial DNA in cavity-nesting honey bees Apis koschevnikovi and Apis nuluensis
- Database of the mitochondrial DNA of Apis koschevnikovi
- Crossfostered drones of Apis cerana (Fabricius, 1793) and Apis koschevnikovi (Buttel-Reepen, 1906) fly at their species specific mating times.