MORPHOMETRIC CHARACTERIZATION OF THREE DIFFERENT HONEYBEES (HYMENOPTERA: APIDAE) SPECIES FROM BANGLADESH

The honeybee is an eusocial species that plays an important role in conservation, pollination, and environmental protection. In Bangladesh, apiculture has become a profitable venture for the last few decades. Taking into account the potential of different honeybee species in pollinating and producing bee products, knowledge of different species can help maximize the production of bee products and increase pollination. To identify these species using their morphometric characteristics, three samples of honey species, namely Apis mellifera L., Apis cerana F., and Apis dorsata F. were collected to analyze their morphometric characteristics. Approximately 172 worker honeybee samples were collected from 24 colonies in 7 districts of Bangladesh. For each of the collected samples, 22 (22) morphometric characters were measured in the entomology laboratory of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University. Analysis of variance was performed to understand the variability of the morphometric characters between honeybee species, which indicated that the morphometric characters are suitable for identifying honeybee species. The principal component analysis delineated three morphometric characters (along with their morphometric characters in parentheses): The distance of the cubular vein a (19), longitudinal length of the forewing (17), and the angle of venation of the forewing B4 (22), which contributed the most to the variance. Classification of honeybee species using multilayer perceptron considering only these three morphometric characters achieved an accuracy of 100% while significantly reducing the overall computation required. The findings of this study can be helpful in identifying the discriminating morphometric characteristics of the honeybee for improving the apiculture sector in Bangladesh.