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Glite Dictionary
genus Apis

genus Apis

7.7
A group of bees that includes the European honeybee
  • noun
  • /ˈdʒɛnəs ˈeɪpɪs/
  • Specialized
translation icon : género Apis
  • Of the more than 20,000 known bee species, only six are honey bees (genus Apis).

Examples

  • The genus Apis includes various species of honeybees, known for their role in pollination.

  • Honey produced by bees from the genus Apis is often used in cooking and baking.

  • In biology class, we learned that the genus Apis contains the European honeybee, Apis mellifera.

Synonyms

Apis
vsgenus Apis
  • Specialized
13 7.0

A group of bees that includes the common honeybee kept for their honey

names the genus within the family and includes that species

Surface Forms

genus Apis singular
genera Apis plural

Morphology

genus + Apis

The phrase is fully compositional: 'genus' names a taxonomic rank and 'Apis' is the taxon name, so together they denote the taxonomic group of honeybees. This follows regular scientific naming conventions that are recognizable to learners who know both constituent words, making the meaning recoverable.

Etymology

Genus Apis comes from the Latin word Apis, which simply meant 'bee'. Long ago, scientists used this name to group the honey-making kinds together, so genus Apis today means the group of honeybees that make honey and help plants grow.