MORPHOMETRIC DIFFERENCES BETWEEN SOUTH AMERICAN AFRICANIZED AND SOUTH AFRICAN (APIS MELLIFERA SCUTELLATA) HONEY BEES

Abstract

Univariate statistical analysis and multivariate discriminant analysis were conducted for 25 morphological characteristics of a sample of South African Apis mellifera scutellata and of a sample of feral South American honey bees. The two populations differed for 19 of 24 characteristics, with the bees from Africa also being consistently smaller. The discriminant function completely separated the two populations. The Africanized bees in this study were quite similar to those in a large survey by A DLY and BALLING (1978) which found South American Africanized bees to be distinctly different and smaller than European bees. Thus, the feral bees of South America clearly show the influence of both their European and their African parentage although they are more similar to their African parents.