Phylogenetic variations found in Indian honeybee species, Apis cerana Fabr. of North Western Ghats of Maharashtra, India

ABSTRACT

Molecular systematics of honeybee species Apis cerana Fabr. inhabiting North Western Ghats of India have not been investigated till date. This is the first report of phylogenetic variation in Apis cerana bees sampled from five diverse ecotypes of North Western Ghats of Maharashtra, viz. Pune, Nashik, Mahabaleshwar, Bhimashankar and Wai. Over the years, taxonomy of honeybee has been mostly based on morphometric characters. In the present study, we carried out molecular phylogenetic analysis of mitochondrial DNA sequence with respect to COI gene. It was further aimed to confirm the taxonomical status of A. cerana from the Western Ghats of India in comparison with the Asian populations of A. Cerana.