JOURNAL OF CHEMOMETRICS, VOL. 2, 29-37 (1988) TAXONOMY BASED ON CHEMICAL CONSTITUTION: DIFFERENTIATION OF AFRICANIZED HONEY-BEES FROM EUROPEAN HONEY-BEES zy B. K. LAVINE zyxwvu Department of Chemistry, Clarkson University, Potsdam, zyxwvu NY 13676, U.S.A DAVID A. CARLSON Insects Affecting Man and Animals Research Laboratory, USDA, ARS, P. zyxwv 0. Box 14565, Gainesville, FL 32604, U.S.A. DOUGLAS HENRY Molecular Design Limiled Corporation, 2132 Farallon Drive, San Leandro, C A 94577, U.S.A. AND PETER C. JURS Department of Chemistry, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, U.S.A. SUMMARY Gas chromatography and pattern recognition methods have been used to develop a potential method for differentiating between European and Africanized honey-bees based on chemical constitution. 243 European, African and Africanized honey-bees were characterized by 40-peak GCs of cuticular hydrocarbon extracts. Discriminants were developed that correctly classified the bees, and these discriminants were used successfully to classify bees of unknown origin, including hybrids. KEY zyxwvutsrqpon WORDS Pattern recognition Principal component analysis Linear discriminant analysis Classification INTRODUCTION In 1056 the African honey-bee,‘ Apis mellifera scutellata, was brought to Brazil for use in a bee-breeding program.’ The variety of honey-bee that resulted from the interbreeding of the established European bee with the newly imported African types, referred to as the Africanized bee, has since dominated the bee fauna of Brazil and Venezuela. Swarms of Africanized bees have been found in North American ports aboard freighters arriving from South America and Panama. Africanized honey-bees have received considerable coverage in the popular press, and there are stories about hordes of bees stinging victims to death. Many reports have stressed the aggressive behaviour of this bee, and the inherent danger that Africanized bees pose for both man and domestic animals. The ability of Africanized honey-bees to spread throughout much 088&9383/88/0 10029-O9$05.00 zyxwvu 0 1988 by John Wiley zyxwvuts & Sons, Ltd. Received zyx 6 February 1987 Revised 13 May 1987