Apidologie 40 (2009) 508-512
DOI: 10.1051/apido/2009011

Apis florea in Jordan: source of the founder population

Nizar Haddad¹, Stefan Fuchs², H. Randall Hepburn³ and Sarah E. Radloff<sup>4

1</sup>  Bee Research Unit, National Centre for Agricultural Research and Extension, PO Box 639, Baqa' 19381, Jordan
²  Institut für Bienenkunde, Fachbereich Biowissenschaften, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main, Karl-von- Frisch-Weg 2, 61440 Oberursel, Germany
³  Department of Zoology and Entomology, Rhodes University, Grahamstown 6140, South Africa
⁴  Department of Statistics, Rhodes University, Grahamstown 6140, South Africa

Received 25 June 2008 – Revised 22 January 2009 – Accepted 23 January 2009 - Published online 8 August 2009

Abstract - A recent isolated population of Apis florea has been reported from Aqaba in Jordan at the Red Sea, consisting of numerous colonies within a still limited range which apparently is expanding. This region is about 1500 km apart from its next occurrences in Sudan where it had been introduced and first detected in 1985 and about 2000 km apart from its next natural occurrences in Iran and Oman. These bees apparently have been imported by human transport, most likely by ship. This new location thus represents a major jump in the progression of the species still to fill a wide area of possible locations offering adequate living conditions. Here we attempt to track the possible origin of this new population by morphometric methods. This analysis indicated closest relation to A. florea from Oman, thus being the most likely source of this population.

Key words: Apis florea / Jordan / spread


© INRA, DIB-AGIB, EDP Sciences 2009