56
 Allele frequencies in drones from southern Mexico were, in general,

intermediate to the frequencies in the USA and South African drones. The

notable exception was allele M301/D301 (19%), which was absent in South

African drones and detected in a single colony from the USA sample collection

(a colony from Florida).

 Honduras. Variants from each Mspl group were detected in drones from

Honduras (Table 3). The majority of variants detected were in the M500 group

(Table 3). With the exception of variant M512, detected at a frequency of 11-

14%, the individual M500 variants were found at low frequencies. [An

ambiguity in the frequencies of variants M512 and M516 resulted from the

similarity in the sizes and intensities of fragments in these two variants: unless

the samples bearing these variants were adjacent in Southern blots, they were

difficult to distinguish.] Frequencies of variants in the M400 group (M401, 3%;

M403, 8%; M404, 8%) were comparable to the frequencies at which these

variants had been detected in South Africa and southern Mexico (Table 3). As

in southern Mexico and the USA, only M301 and M302 were detected from the

M300 group. Variants M103 and M202 were detected in single drones.

 It appeared that all five Mspl variant groups were represented in workers

from Honduras (Figure 9, lanes 4, 6, 8, 11, 12, 14-17; see Table 4). As in

drones, the variant group detected at the highest frequency was M500 (39%).

The frequency for the M400 group, 27%, was the highest of all the New World

populations tested. The M300 group frequencies (26% in drones, 23% in