> I have in the past cast doubt on the notion that there are valid races of
bees in the USA.
There are at least two USA groups that we could call distinct "races", even
if both are hybridized and human-introduced.
Very solid genome evidence has been identified to differentiate at least 4
subspecies that evolved in Europe, Africa, and Asia: "M" (mellifera,
iberiensis), "C" (ligustica, carnica), "O" (anatoliaca, caucasica, syriaca,
pomonella), and "A" (scutellata, lamarckii, capensis, litorea, unicolor,
intermissa). There are also "Y" (Ethiopian) and "S" (Syria/Lebanon)
lineages, but there still is some question about how distinct they are from
the "A" group.
See attached map "Fig 2" from:
https://nature.com/articles/s41598-020-71393-0
https://tinyurl.com/yxqjm6gv
Other good articles on the subject are:
https://frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2016.00140/full
https://tinyurl.com/y5pjb6ou
and this one, paywalled, so saved here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WnE8sus3DXIIPr3ZYyNrZG5yWTa0SneI/view?usp=s
haring
https://tinyurl.com/y3a2l6mo
Given the above, North America has at least the significantly hybridized
non-Africanized group, (bred from any or all of M, C, and O, from above) and
the Africanized hybrid group, which seems to be the only "A" genetics in
North America.
So, while both groups are hybrids, their genetics, geographic ranges, and
their behavior are different enough to differ between them, and classify
them as distinct subspecies, even if the hand of man was involved in the
transport of the genetics.
A similar problem exists with penguins. Most of the "similar" penguins are
so isolated from each other as to never meet, so even those that might
interbreed, don't. What was thought to be 18 distinct species was claimed
to be 19, and the argument over that spilt led to the work that found 28
total subspecies or "types". ("Types", because if you call anything a
"subspecies" in public, taxonomists send you long, whining, pedantic letters
about how they are the sole arbiters....)
https://www.aquarium.co.za/blog/entry/26-types-of-penguin-the-cutest-list-on
-the-internet
https://tinyurl.com/y5gsadmq
Red Wolves are a species where "reintroduction" might be better described as
"re-invention". Red Wolves were thought to be gray wolf/coyote hybrids, so
Eastern Wolves were bred with coyotes, and released in eastern NC as "Red
Wolves". Later genetic work made things more complicated - Gray Wolves never
did hybridize with coyotes much. (Coyotes are often too preoccupied with
complex schemes to drop anvils on Roadrunners...)
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