INDIAN BLACK HONEYBEE

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Context: A new species of endemic honeybee has been discovered in the Western Ghats.

Details:

• The new species has been named Apis karinjodian and given the common name Indian black honeybee.
• It is after a gap of more than 200 years that a new species of honeybee has been spotted in the Western Ghats.
• The last honeybee described from India was Apis indica in 1798 by Fabricius. Although Fabricius named the Indian bee Apis indica, it was not considered a valid species till now.
• The research team restored the status of Apis indica based on a new measure for species discrimination in honeybees termed ‘Radio-Medial Index (RMI)’.
• Apis karinjodian has evolved from Apis cerana morphotypes that got acclimatised to the hot and humid environment of the Western Ghats.
• The distribution of Apis karinjodian ranges from the central Western Ghats and Nilgiris to the southern Western Ghats, covering the States of Goa, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

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