TitleGeographical distribution of the giant honey bee Smith, 1871 (Hymenoptera, Apidae).
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2020
AuthorsKitnya N, Prabhudev MV, Bhatta CPrasad, Pham THong, Nidup T, Megu K, Chakravorty J, Brockmann A, Otis GW
JournalZookeys
Volume951
Pagination67-81
Date Published2020
ISSN1313-2989
Abstract

Worldwide pollinator declines have dramatically increased our need to survey and monitor pollinator distributions and abundances. The giant honey bee, , is one of the important pollinators at higher altitudes of the Himalayas. This species has a restricted distribution along the Himalayas and neighbouring mountain ranges of Asia. Previous assessments of its distribution, published more than 20 years ago, were based on museum specimens. Since then, 244 additional localities have been revealed through field trips by the authors, publications, and websites. We present a revised distribution for that better defines its range and extends it eastward to the mountains of northern Vietnam, southward along the Arakan Mountains to west-central Myanmar, into the Shillong Hills of Meghalaya, India, and northwestward in Uttarakhand, India. This species is generally found at elevations between 1000-3000 m a.s.l.. In northeastern India colonies occur during summer at sites as low as 850 m a.s.l. and some lower elevation colonies maintain their nests throughout the winter. Finally, we report three regions in Arunachal Pradesh, India, and nine locations in northern Vietnam, where we observed workers of and foraging sympatrically; their co-occurrence supports the species status of .

DOI10.3897/zookeys.951.49855
Alternate JournalZookeys
PubMed ID32774106
PubMed Central IDPMC7390808