A geometric morphometric method and web application for identifying honey bee species (Apis spp.) using only forewings

The genus Apis, the honey bee, is represented by nine species and contains three subgenera: Megapis, Micrapis, and Apis. Apis species within a subgenus can be difficult to distinguish from one another, emphasizing the need for a versatile diagnostic tool that can be used to identify the species efficiently and accurately. We photographed 8756 wings from the members of all nine Apis species. The wings were imaged from samples housed at the Institute for Bee Research in Oberursel, Germany. We used geometric morphometric techniques with wing vein intersection coordinates to develop a computer-based method that correctly identified 99.4% of tested samples to species (A. nigrocincta was the lowest at 94.6%). We also developed a web application that can be used to identify the Apis species using an image of a single wing uploaded by the user at . Our data and web application are useful for field studies in Apis ecology and conservation or for regulatory activities.

Automated summary

The study developed a computer-based method for identifying honey bee species with a high accuracy rate of 99.4% using geometric morphometric techniques. They also created a web application where users can upload wing images for species identification, which is valuable for research in honey bee ecology and conservation.