Fore and hind wings morphometry of apis dorsata worker honeybees (hymenoptera:apidae) of geographically distinct areas of southern karnataka, india

In southern Karnataka, geographically distinct five places were selected randomly to record the wing traits in moribund or dead A. dorsata worker bees by following standard methods. Altogether, 41 wing traits i.e., 25 traits in fore wing and 16 traits in hind wing were observed and data revealed interesting results. Around 29 traits, in both fore wing and hind wing have indicated significant differences among samples collected from geographically distinct areas namely: arid, semi-arid, malnad and city environment of southern Karnataka. Moreover, number of hamuli in both right and left side wings showed considerable differences compared to earlier published reports. Obviously, all these findings help us to presume the existence of eco-race or sub-species of A. dorsata amidst geographically distinct areas of southern Karnataka. This has instigated us to conducted further in depth studies especially on genetic analysis that could strongly support and confirm the species variation if any in Southern Karnataka. On this line, in depth study has been initiated in this laboratory to provide data on genetic details to confirm the species variation if any and results of such observations will published elsewhere