Himalayan region has greatest diversity of bees: Zoological Survey of India

MP | 8 March 2020 | Kolkata: Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) has come out with a new book titled 'Bees of India' which puts the global diversity of bees to 20,473 species with the Himalayan region having the greatest diversity with 273 species.

"The book is the first of its kind from India to include high-quality photographs of 200 species of Indian bees and reports the occurrence of 817 species of bees belonging to 72 genera, 22 tribes, and 12 subfamilies under six families – Megachilidae, Apidae, Halictidae, Colletidae, Andrenidae, and Melittidae of superfamily Apoidea from India," said Kailash Chandra, Director ZSI.

Among the 10 biogeographic zones of India, the Himalayan region supports the greatest diversity (273 species), followed by Semi-Arid (263 species), Deccan Peninsula (240 species), Western Ghats (155 species), Gangetic Plains (147 species), Desert (115 species), Trans Himalaya (103 species), North-East (89 species), Island (24 species), and Coasts (1).

Interestingly 85 per cent of the bees are solitary while the rest are quasi-social, semi-social or social.

As per the assessment report on Pollinator, Pollination, and Food Production by Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) in 2016, animal pollination contributes to nearly 5-8 per cent of global crop production, with an annual market value of 235-577 billion dollars worldwide. Among all the animal pollinators bees are the most efficient pollinators of cultivated and wild plants, contributing 73 per cent of pollination in plants.

There are two major groups of bees Apis bees (or honeybees), and non-Apis (bumblebees, stingless bees, and other solitary bees). The bees specialise in the collection of pollen and nectar and have a direct relation to the floral morphology. Earlier, the main focus has been on domesticated bees such as the European bee (Apis mellifera), and an eastern bee (Apis cerana) along with some bumblebees and stingless bees for pollination potential.

"The book aims to propagate knowledge for the promotion of future research activities in bee taxonomy and promote their conservation among human being. The information given in the book will be useful to the students, researchers, passionate wildlife photographers, nature lovers, conservationists, and policymakers," Chandra added.

The book has been authored by Chandra, along with ZSI scientists Jagdish Saini and Devangshu Gupta