Apis mellifera artemisia | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Hymenoptera |
Family: | Apidae |
Genus: | Apis |
Species: | |
Subspecies: | A. m. artemisia
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Trinomial name | |
Apis mellifera artemisia Engel 1999[1]
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Synonyms[2] | |
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Apis mellifera artemisia is the Russian steppe honey bee, first identified in 1999 near Kyiv, Ukraine, by only one specimen,[3] but by 2011 its taxonomic status had been called into question,[4] although to date no DNA analysis has been conducted: At the same time the taxonomic status of the Apis mellifera ruttneri on Malta was also called into question, however in 2017 it was confirmed that Apis mellifera ruttneri was a new and separate subspecies.[5]
Its name is derived from Artemis the Greek goddess for whom the honey bee was a symbol and whose temple at Ephesus, the Artemision, was listed as one of the Seven Wonders of the world.[6]