Apis mellifera capensis
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| Apis mellifera capensis Eschscholtz, 1822 |
Apis mellifera capensis, the Cape honey bee is a sub-species of the Western honey bee. Cape worker bees are able to lay diploid, female eggs without mating by means of thelytoky, whereas workers of other honey bee subspecies are able to lay only haploid, male eggs.
They will often use this ability to set themselves up as a false queen of a rival colony.
[edit] Source
Parasitic Cape honeybee workers, Apis mellifera capensis, evade policing Martin, S.J. and Beekman, M. and Wossler, T.C. and Ratnieks, F.L.W. (2002) Nature, 415 (6868). pp. 163-165 accessed Jan 2006
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