MULTIVARIATE MORPHOMETRICS OF THE INDIAN HONEYBEE IN THE NORTHWEST HIMALAYAN REGION

Multivariate statistical analyses of 55 morphometric characters were made for collections of Apis cerana from 20 localities in the Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir states of the northwest Himalayas. Two distinct biometric groups were observed after discriminant function analysis and cluster analysis. The groups were associated with differences in the climates of the Himachal and Kashmir regions. Previous observations were confirmed that some characters were associated with altitude and rainfall such that bees were larger and darker at higher altitudes and lower rainfall. The phenetic clustering of samples within each region corresponded in general to physiography. Principal component analysis indicated minimal contributions of general size components to overall covariation in each of the regions.