Apis mellifera sossimai | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Hymenoptera |
Family: | Apidae |
Genus: | Apis |
Species: | |
Subspecies: | A. m. sossimai
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Trinomial name | |
Apis mellifera sossimai Engel 1999[1]
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Synonyms[2] | |
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Apis mellifera sossimai (common name the Ukrainian honey bee) extending from the west of Ukraine centrally and southwards towards the Caucasus mountains.[3] However in 2011 research from Russia conducted mtDNA analysis showing that the A. m. sossimai was not a separate subspecies, but only an ecotype of the Apis mellifera macedonica subspecies.[4]
Its name is derived from St. Sossima, patron Saint of beekeeping in Ukraine. St. Sossima may be a Christian version of the bee-god Zosim of some early pagan tribes of Russia.[5]