Common Honeybee

Scientific Name: Apis mellifera
Scientific Author: Linnaeus
Taxonomy: (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

Reliability: High; High

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Lateral female view

Caption: Australia North Queensland - Kuranda, Oct 2005.
Source: Simon Hinkley & Ken Walker Museums Victoria

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Diagnostic Images (9)

Dorsal female view
Fore wing
Head front
Head side
Hind wing
Lateral female view
Posterior view

Other Images (11)

Bee comb with larvae
Bee larva
Close up of larva head
Diagnostic notes
Dorsal view - pupa
Forewing Cubital Index
Head front - pupa

Diagnostic Notes

There are 24 races of Apis mellifera. The races have different physical and behavioral characteristics such as body color, wing length, and susceptibility to disease. The many geographical races of the common honeybee Apis mellifera, are distributed widely throughout Europe, Africa, and parts of western Asia, as well as in the Americas. All these races display similarities in their basic biological attributes, e.g. the construction of multiple-comb nests in dark cavities, colony social organization and division of labour.

Differentiation characters between various species of Apis

Character A. mellifera A. cerana

Forewing

Length (mm) 8.0-9.7 7.4-9.0

Cubital index 1.65-2.95 3.1-5.1

Tomenta Tergites 3-5 Tergites 3-6

Nest Several combs Several combs

in cavity in cavity

More Information

Specimen Contact: Museum Victoria

Author: Walker, K.

Created: 15/01/2006 10:45 AEST

Last Updated: 24/11/2021 16:44 AEST

Citation: Walker, K. (2006) Common Honeybee (Apis mellifera) Updated on 11/24/2021 4:44:56 PM Available online: PaDIL - http://www.padil.gov.au.

Image Use: Free for use under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)