Apis cerana nuluensis

Taxobox
name = Borneo Honey bee
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Arthropoda
classis = Insecta
ordo = Hymenoptera
subordo = Apocrita
superfamilia = Apoidea
familia = Apidae
subfamilia = Apinae
tribus = Apini
genus = "Apis"
species = "A. cerana"
subspecies = "A. c. nuluensis"
trinomial = "Apis cerana nuluensis"
trinomial_authority = Tingek, Koeniger & Koeniger, 1996

"Apis cerana nuluensis" is a subspecies of honey bee described in 1996 by Tingek, Koeniger & Koeniger. The geographic distribution of the subspecies is the south-east Asian island of Borneo, politically divided between Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei.

"A. c. nuluensis" is one of a number of Asiatic honey bees, including the more obscure "Apis koschevnikovi" and "Apis nigrocincta" (the latter of which has nearby habitat on nearby Sulawesi and Mindanao islands)

While this was originally described as a species, it has since been classified as a geographic race (subspecies) of the widespread "A. cerana" (Engel, 1999). Molecular evidence suggests it is divergent enough in its DNA sequences to classify the lineage as a species (Arias & Sheppard, 2005), but there has been no formal reassignment to date.

Like many honey bees, "A. c. nuluensis" is liable to infestation by the parasitic "Varroa" mite, although in this case the particular species is "Varroa underwoodi". (In this aspect, "A. c. nuluensis" is similar to "A. nigrocincta")

References

* Tingek S., Koeniger N., Koeniger G. (1996) Description of a newcavity-dwelling species of "Apis" ("Apis nuluensis") from Sabah, Borneo with notes on its occurrence and reproductive biology (Hymenoptera, Apoidea, Apini), Senckenbergiana Biol. 76, 115–119.
* Fuchs S., Koeniger N., Tingek S. (1996) The morphometric position of "A. nuluensis" (Tingek, Koeniger and Koeniger) within cavity-nesting honey bees, Apidologie 27, 397–406.
* Arias M.S., Tingek S., Kelitu A., Sheppard W.S.(1996) "Apis nuluensis" Tingek, Koeniger and Koeniger, 1996 and its genetic relationship with sympatric species inferred from DNA sequences, Apidologie 27, 415–422.
*Engel, M.S. (1999) The taxonomy of recent and fossil honey bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae: "Apis"). "Journal of Hymenoptera Research" 8: 165-196.
* (2005): Phylogenetic relationships of honey bees (Hymenoptera:Apinae:Apini) inferred from nuclear and mitochondrial DNA sequence data. "Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution" 37(1): 25–35. doi|10.1016/j.ympev.2005.02.017. Erratum in "Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution" 40(1): 315. doi|10.1016/j.ympev.2006.02.002