Comparative Morphometric Studies on the Indian Honeybee of the North-West Himalayas 1. Tongue and Antenna

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Abstract
Morphometric studies were made on samples of workers of the Indian honeybee (Apis cerano indica F.) collected from various localities in the Himachal and Kashmir regions of India. Significant differences with locality were found in length of postmentum, pedicel, flagellum and antenna in the Himachal region but only in length of postmentum in Kashmir. Values for the above morphological characters were significantly higher for the mountainous (elevation > 1800 m) than for the submountainous zone. In bees of Himachal, 5 characters—length of postmentum, scape, pedicel, flagellum and antenna—showed a low but statistically significant positive correlation with altitude, whereas in Kashmir only the total antennal length was correlated with altitude. Both length of flagellum and overall antennal length were significantly greater in Kashmiri bees. Tongue length did not differ significantly between the 2 regions; it is suggested that this character may be more closely related to floral morphology than to altitude.