Previously classified as A. m.intermissa v. Buttel-Reepen[2][3][4] a reviewed classification of genus instead states the sub-species as A. m. intermissa v. Maa (M. S. Engel 1999)[5][6] Found in the south of Spain [7] and the (Maghreb) north of the Sahara desert in Africa, ranging from the east (Libya) to the west (Morocco),[8][9] and is adapted to dry climates.[10] This bee has a black-brown and orange striated abdomen and black-brown thorax with orange fur.[11][12][13][14]
Taxonomy
In a comparative study of five subspecies and A. m. iberica (Smith, Palopoli, Taylor, Garnery, Cornuet, Solignac, Brown 1991) cleavage maps obtained through the use of restriction enzymes[15] showed that the Spanish honey bee contains mtDNA (mitochondrial DNA) similar to intermissa and also mellifera.[7] Additionally, A. m. intermissa belongs to a group shown by experiment to have similar mtDNA, this including monticola, scuttelata, adansonii and capensis[16][17][18]
In Spanish honey bee populations, mtDNA haplotypes of African bee strains were found to be frequently present (Smith 1991, Garnery et al 1995) (Cornuet et al 1975, 1978, 1982, 1988; Ruttner 1988; Cornuet and Fresnaye 1989; Orante-Bermejos and Garcia-Fernandez 1995; Hepburn and Radloff 1996). Migrating honey bee populations formed the original colonies of honey bees in western Europe, landing to eventually populate the continent from Africa across the Straits of Gibraltar.[19]
^M. S. Engel google.co.uk The Taxonomy of Recent and Fossil Honey Bees (Hymenoptera :Apidae , Apis) J.HYM RES Vol 8(2) 1999 p.165-196 [Retrieved 2011-12-20]
^Mark L. Winston books.google.co.ukThe biology of the honey bee (281 pages) Harvard University Press, 1 Apr 1991 ISBN0-674-07409-2 [Retrieved 2011-12-19]
^Leen van 't Leven, Marieke Mutsaers, Piet Segeren, Hayo Velthuis books.google.co.uk AD32E Beekeeping in the tropics Agromisa Foundation[Retrieved 2012-12-19]
^M.Chouchene, N. Barbouche, M.Garnery, L.Baylac openstarts.units.it Nimis P.L. Vignes Lebbe R (eds.) Tools for Identifying Biodiversity: Progress and Problems p.343 Molecular and ecophysiological characterisation of the Tunisian bee: Apis mellifera intermissaISBN978-88-8303-295-0 EUT,2010[Retrieved 2011-12-20]
^Pierre Franck, Lionel Garnery, Michel Solignac and Jean-Marie Cornuet (1997) JSTORThe Origin of West European Subspecies of Honeybees (Apis mellifera): New Insights from Microsatellite and Mitochondrial Data EvolutionVol. 52, No. 4 (Aug., 1998), pp. 1119-1134 (article consists of 16 pages) Published by: Society for the Study of Evolution [Retrieved 2011-12-22]