RT Journal Article
T1 Apis mellifera evolutionary lineages in Northern Africa: Libya, where orient meets occident
A1 Shaibi, Taher
A1 Muñoz Gabaldón, Irene
A1 Dall′Olio, Raffaele
A1 Lodesani, Marco
A1 De la Rúa, Pilar
A1 Moritz, Robin
AB The distribution of various evolutionary lineages of Apis mellifera subspecies in Africa is still controversial. We sampled honeybees from eight coastal locations and three Saharan oases in Libya and analyzed mtDNA variability with restriction fragment length polymorphisms and the sequence of the tRNAleu-cox2 intergenic region. Haplotypes belonging to the oriental O evolutionary lineage, including four which are newly described, were detected in all investigated locations. Haplotypes belonging to the European M lineage were rarely detected, probably reflecting the effect of sporadic importations. Honeybees belonging to the A lineage were detected in Al Aziziyah and Zlitan close to the Tunisian border. The distribution of the O lineage extends westward up to the border between Libya and Tunisia, a contact area between the O and A lineages. Various Libyan honeybee populations in Saharan oases are characterized by novel and unique haplotypes (O4, O5, O5′ and O5″). These might be natural relic populations that became isolated when the North African Sahara desert was still grassland (0.126–0.168 Myr ago).
SN 0020-1812
YR 2009
FD 2009
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/96688
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/96688
LA eng
NO Shaibi, T., Muñoz, I., Dall′Olio, R. et al. Apis mellifera evolutionary lineages in Northern Africa: Libya, where orient meets occident. Insect. Soc. 56, 293–300 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00040-009-0023-3
NO Ministry of High Education (Libya)
NO Comunidad de Madrid
NO Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (España)
DS Docta Complutense
RD 4 abr 2025