• Animal Systematics, Evolution and Diversity
• /
• v.14 no.4
• /
• pp.341-355
• /
• 1998

Thirty one morphometric characters of specimens in 15 subspecies of striped field mouse(Apodemus agrarius Pallas) from Eurasia were analyzed to clarify taxonomic status of these subspecies. Five major subgroups in A. agrarius were revealed: I, a largest-size form, specimens from two southern from other six localities in Korea, subspecies coreae and pallescens; III, the other large-size from, specimens from Astrachan in western Russia, subspecies volgensis; IV, a medium-size form, specimens from 16 localities in eastern Asia(North Korea, China, and eastern Russia), subspecies coreae, manchuricus, pallidior, ningpoensis, and insulaemus; V, a small-size form, specimens from 16 localities in western Asia and Europe (Kazakhstan, Russia, Lithuania, and Ukraine), subspecies tianschanicus, ognevi, agrarius, septentrionalis, nikolski, caucasicus, and karelicus. From this morphometric analyses, the followings are concluded: subspecies chejuensis is a larger-size form, as noted by Johnson and Jones(1955): subspecies pallescens is the synonym of subspecies agrarius, as suggested by Koh(1986): subspecies coreae from Korea is a large-size form and is idistinct from other 12 subspecies in Eurasia: the eastern form of subspecies ningpoensis by Corbet(1978) is a medium-size form o subspecies manchuricus, pallidior, ningpoensis, and insulaemus from eastern Asia (China and eastern Russia), and it includea North Korea specimens: a small-size form from western Asia and Europe(subspecies tianschanicus, ognevi, agrarius, septentrionalis, nikolski, caucasicus, and karelicus) is the western form of subspecies agrarius by Corbet(1978); the other large-size form of subspecies volgensis from western Russia is a distinct subspecies, which differs from the western subspecies agrarius. Therefore, it is concluded that 15 subspecies of A. agrarius can be classifed into five subspecies (chejuensis, coreae, ningpoensis, agrarius, and volgensis), although it is necessary to measure and analyze morphometric characters of specimens of other seven subspecies(albostriatus, maculatus, rubens, kahmanni, henrici, gloveri, and harti) for the complete reclassification of this species).

• Korean journal of applied entomology
• /
• v.61 no.3
• /
• pp.399-408
• /
• 2022

There has been much debate on the morphometric divergence between the recently identified Apis cerana koreana and Apis cerana honey bees. The aim of this study was to obtain phenotypic information that can be used to compare A. c. koreana data with other A. cerana subspecies data from open resources and determine breeding results on the basis of morphometric traits. To differentiate A. c. koreana, we investigated 22 classic morphological characteristics; royal jelly secretion; and the weight of workers, queens, and drones of A. c. koreana bred in Korea. To define the selection results, we used the geometric morphometric method. The artificially selected A. c. koreana secreted significantly more royal jelly (1.18 times) than the naturally selected A. c. koreana, which positively influenced the health of the colonies. These honey bees were identified more clearly with the geometric morphometric method than with the classic morphometric method, which is traditionally used to determine the subspecies. Large trends were noted for A. c. koreana on the basis of our results and literature from the 1980s regarding A. cerana sizes in Korea (tarsal index, length of forewing, and cubital index were measured). The cluster analysis revealed the proximity of A. c. koreana, A. cerana in China, and A. c. indica on the basis of eight classic characters, which, perhaps, relay the origin of the honey bees. The results of this study defined the morphometric responses of A. c. koreana honey bees to geographic isolation, climate change, and selection, which are important to identify, protect, and preserve honey bee stock in Korea.