Free Access
Issue
Apidologie
Volume 27, Number 5, 1996
Asian honeybees
Page(s) 361 - 369
DOI https://doi.org/10.1051/apido:19960504
Apidologie 27 (1996) 361-369
DOI: 10.1051/apido:19960504

Drone flight times confirm the species status of Apis nigrocincta Smith, 1861 to be a species distinct from Apis cerana F, 1793, in Sulawesi, Indonesia

S. Hadisoesilo and G.W. Otis

Department of Environmental Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, N1G 2W1, Canada

Abstract - The drone flights of two distinct morphs of cavity-nesting honey bees were compared in Sulawesi. Drones of the 'black' morph (Apis cerana) flew in the early afternoon and had nearly completed their flights before the main flight of drones of the 'yellow' morph. This pattern was consistent in all three study sites but there were significant differences in timing of drone flights between the sites. The differences in timing of mating flights provide the biological justification to recognize the 'yellow' morph as a distinct species, Apis nigrocincta Smith, 1861.


Key words: Apis nigrocincta / Apis cerana / drone flight / reproductive isolation / taxonomic status / Sulawesi / Indonesia