Table 1.

Summary of subspecies of Apis mellifera widely used in the apidological and apicultural literature and industry, arranged loosely by Ruttner’s (1988) gross geographical areas (not all are considered valid biologically or taxonomically; e.g., Engel 1999, 2006).

Western Mediterranean

Apis mellifera iberiensis Engel

Apis mellifera intermissa Maa

= major Ruttner

Apis mellifera mellifera Linnaeus

Apis mellifera ruttneri Sheppard et al.

Apis mellifera sahariensis Baldensperger

Irano-Ponto-Caspian East Mediterraean / Central Asia

Apis mellifera adami Ruttner

Apis mellifera anatoliaca Maa

Apis mellifera caucasia Pollmann

Apis mellifera cypria Pollmann

Apis mellifera meda Skorikov

Apis mellifera pomonella Sheppard & Meixner

Apis mellifera remipes Gerstaecker

= armeniaca Skorikov

Apis mellifera sossimai Engel

Apis mellifera syriaca Buttel-Reepen

Apis mellifera taurica Alpatov

Central Mediterranean-Southeastern Europe

Apis mellifera carnica Pollmann

Apis mellifera carpatica Barac

Apis mellifera cecropia Kiesenwetter

Apis mellifera ligustica Spinola

Apis mellifera macedonica Ruttner

Apis mellifera siciliana Grassi

= sicula Montagano

African-Arabian

Apis mellifera adansonii Latreille

Apis mellifera bandasii Amssalu

Apis mellifera capensis Eschscholtz

Apis mellifera lamarckii Cockerell

Apis mellifera litorea Smith

Apis mellifera monticola Smith

Apis mellifera jemenitica Ruttner

= nubica Ruttner

Apis mellifera scutellata Lepeletier de Saint Fargeau

Apis mellifera simensis Meixner et al.

Apis mellifera sudanensis El-Sarrag et al.

Apis mellifera unicolor Latreille

Apis mellifera woyigambella Amssalu