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Determination of mitochondrial DNA haplotypes from sting remnants of the honeybee Apis mellifera (Hymenoptera:Apidae)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

W.S. Sheppard ,
M.C. Arias  and
H. Shimanuki
W.S. Sheppard*
Affiliation:
USDA-ARS Bee Research Laboratory, Beltsville, USA
M.C. Arias
Affiliation:
USDA-ARS Bee Research Laboratory, Beltsville, USA
H. Shimanuki
Affiliation:
USDA-ARS Bee Research Laboratory, Beltsville, USA
*
W.S. Sheppard, USDA-ARS Bee Research Laboratory Bldg 476, BARC-E, Beltsville, MD 20705, USA.
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Abstract

Africanized honeybees are presently expanding their geographic range within the USA and are considered undesirable due to their substantial defensive behaviour. Africanized honeybees can be differentiated from honeybees of European ancestry using discriminant analysis of morphological characters, based on a minimum of ten intact specimens per colony. In this paper we report a PCR-based method suitable for the identification of African or European mtDNA from sting remnants, such as typically remain on victims following a stinging incident. We experimentally simulated collection and shipment conditions with dried and alcohol preservation of stings, and also report that the method was suitable for sting remnants stored with a victim sample for over one year in alcohol. The determination of mtDNA haplotypes from stinger remnants must be tempered by the constraints inherent in interpretation of mtDNA haplotype data. Such data do not provide any information regarding the genetic contribution of the paternal lineage. However, in geographic areas where baseline information regarding European haplotype frequencies is known, the detection of a different mtDNA haplotype in stingers from a victim, especially when associated with observations of extreme defensive behaviour, would certainly be suggestive of Africanization.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Bulletin of Entomological Research , Volume 84 , Issue 4 , December 1994 , pp. 551 - 554
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1994

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