Apis (Micrapis) florea Fabricius, 1787

Ascher, John S., Soh, Zestin W. W., Chui, Shao Xiong, Soh, Eunice J. Y., Ho, Benjamin M., Lee, John X. Q., Gajanur, Anya R. & Ong, Xin Rui, 2022, The bees of Singapore (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Anthophila): First comprehensive country checklist and conservation assessment for a Southeast Asian bee fauna, Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 70, pp. 39-64 : 50

40. Apis (Micrapis) florea Fabricius, 1787 , Red Dwarf Honey Bee

Apis florea was detected for the first time in Singapore in 2011 by JSA along West Coast Highway; there are no genuine historical records of true Apis florea from Singapore or from southern Peninsular Malaysia, only confusion with the similar A. andreniformis ( Otis, 1996; Oldroyd & Wongsiri, 2006; Hepburn & Radloff, 2011; Silva et al., 2019). While Apis florea is very widespread and numerous in Thailand, the species’ range extends little if any further south than the Kra Isthmus in Southeast Asia, excepting populations reported long ago from Jakarta Harbour on Java that are believed to have been accidentally introduced by ship ( Hepburn & Radloff, 2011; Silva et al., 2019). Recently, Apis florea has been detected widely in Peninsular Malaysia including in Johor, Selangor, and Penang, indicating ongoing wide establishment across the now-deforested Malay Peninsula rather than an isolated point introduction to Singapore alone. The distribution and niche properties of this species across its range were modelled by Silva et al. (2019). A subsequent image posted to iNaturalist (2021; observations/62470663) from Kupang City, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia is a major range extension and first record for the island of Timor demonstrating ongoing spread to new areas in the region.