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M302/D404 were present at very low frequency; these Ddel variants, but not

these alleles, were also found in South African bees.


Neotropical bees.

 Italian and German farmers brought A. m. ligustica and A. m. mellifera,

respectively, to their settlements in south and southeastern Brazil (Gongalves

1974; GonCalves, Stort & DeJong 1991; Lobo, Del Lama & Mestiner 1989) and

Argentina (Kerr, De Leon & Dardo 1982). A. m. caucasica and A. m. carnica

were also introduced (Kent 1988; Ruttner 1986). In contrast to the USA, the

contribution of A. m. ligustica to the total gene pool in the neotropics was

minor in spite of considerable importation (Kent 1988). The Italian bee has

been found concentrated in certain areas, particularly Argentina (Dietz, Krell &

Eischen 1985; Kerr, De Leon & Dardo 1982; Sheppard et al. 1991), Costa Rica

(Hall 1990; Kent 1988; Spivak 1991), and the Yucatan (Kent 1988; Rinderer

et al. 1991). There is little indication that significant introductions of east

European bees were made or were successful in central and northeastern Brazil

(Lobo, Del Lama & Mestriner 1989), the Guianas, Suriname (Taylor 1977), or

Panama (Boreham & Roubik 1987; Roubik 1982). Prior to the release of A. m.

scutellata in South America, A. m. mellifera remained dominant in the

neotropics, and it has been assumed that if early introductions of subspecies

originating outside Europe were made, they were unsuccessful (Kent 1988).

 Frequencies for the variants and variant groups identified in east

European workers and in the USA were very low, or absent, in neotropical bees