Archives of Current Research International

The present study was undertaken to evaluate geometric morphometric variation in the right forewings of Apis florea Fabricius workers collected from seven districts of South Gujarat, viz., The Dangs, Surat, Valsad, Navsari, Bharuch, Narmada and Tapi. A roving survey was conducted during 2025, and foraging worker bees were collected and preserved in 70 per cent alcohol. The right forewings were separated and analysed using geometric morphometric techniques based on nineteen homologous landmarks located at vein intersections and terminations. Landmark coordinates were digitised using tpsDig2 software, and Hierarchical Cluster Analysis was performed using the Unweighted Pair Group Method with Arithmetic Mean (UPGMA) based on Euclidean distances to determine phenetic relationships among populations. UPGMA analysis grouped the populations into two major clusters. The first cluster comprised the Surat, Tapi, The Dangs, Bharuch and Valsad populations, whereas the second cluster included the Narmada and Navsari populations. Although two distinct clusters were observed, the relatively low overall clustering distances indicated minor geographical variation while confirming the overall morphological similarity of A. florea populations across South Gujarat. The study demonstrates that geometric morphometric analysis of wing landmarks is an efficient and reliable approach for detecting subtle morphological variation and provides valuable information for understanding population diversity, ecological adaptation and conservation of A. florea.