Wings are important flying organs of insects, and their shapes are closely related to the ecological environment.A quantitative study of wing shape in five populations of Apis cerana cerana from Qinling Mountains was conducted by utilizing a geometric morphometric method. The variation patterns were characterized with canonical variates analysis (CVA) and cluster methodology.The following results were obtained.(1)The characteristics of fore-wings and hind-wings among populations are obviously deviated. According to CVA analyses, the FP and XYB populations which locat in the south of Qinling Mountains showed with resemblance, the CA and TP population are similar. However, the fore-wings and hind-wings characteristics of the ZQ population are different, and the population status is diversified, which is considered to be transitive population.(2)The cluster topology and the CVA both have highly compatible results. The CA population is placed at the base of the topology, and the major differences of the cluster results between fore-wings and hind-wings are due to the position changes of the ZQ population, which has indirectly supported the speculation that ZQ might be a transitive population. In summary, we considered that Apis cerana cerana has formed polarization of species because of the complicated natural environment in Qinling Mountains. Our findings will provide evidences for the further studies on genetic resources and evolution of Apis cerana cerana.

Qinling Mountain; Apis cerana cerana; wing shape; geometric morphometric