Taxonomy and world distribution map of honey bee species

The overall objective of SafeAgroBee is to contribute to adaptation and mitigation of the effects of climate change and other drivers negatively influencing the sustainability and the resilience of the agroecosystems in the Mediterranean basin, ensuring the income of farmers and food security. In SafeAgroBee we focus on beekeeping and on pollination services provided by both Apis and non-Apis bees as important drivers in ruling food security, biodiversity, and human well-being.

Taxonomy and world distribution map of honey bee species

apis distribution world map

apis distribution world captions map

Phylum	Arthropoda	Jointed Leg
Class	Insecta	head thorax abdomen
Order	Hymenoptera	membrane winged
Superfamily	Apoidea	the bees
Family	Apidae	honey and bumble bees, orchid bees, some stingless bees
Subfamily	Apinae	perennial social colonies
Tribe	Apini	only 1
Genus	Apis	hive bee
Species	mellifera	"honey bearing", western world

Subspecies of Apis mellifera:

Central Mediterranean and SW Europe:

ligustica
carnica
macedonia
sicula
cecropia

Western Mediterranean and NW Europe:

mellifera
iberica
sahariensis
intermissa

Middle East:

meda
adami
cypria
caucasica
armeniaca
anatolica

African:

intermissa
major
sahariensis
adansonii
unicolor
capensis
monticola
scutellata
lamarkii
yementica
litorea

Asian species of Apis:

Apis koschevnikovi
Apis nuluensis
Apis nigrocincta
Apis dorsata
Apis laboriosa
Apis florea
Apis andreniformis
Apis cerana

Apis cerana, subspecies:

cerana
indica
japonica
himalaya