Abstract: To assess the genetic diversity and genetic structure of Apis cerana cerana populations in Hainan Island, southern China and their relationship with the mainland populations, 627 individual workers from 627 colonies in 11 localities of Hainan Island and 102 individuals from 102 colonies in two localities of mainland China were genotyped using 10 microsatellite DNA loci. The results showed a high level of allelic diversity with 5-17 alleles across all the loci and an average of 4.5-7.0 alleles per locus across Hainan Island populations. The mean expected heterozygosity (He) values across all samples ranged from 0.59 to 0.65. The populations from Hainan Island showed similar allelic structure pattern at ten loci, but Wenchang and Tunchang populations shared a unique allelic pattern at AT101. The F_ST between Hainan Island populations and adjacent mainland ones ranged from 0.06 to 0.13. The F_ST of Wenchang and Tunchang compared to other nine island populations ranged from 0.06 to 0.12, which was larger than that between the nine island populations (F_ST=0-0.05). The results showed Hainan Island A. c. cerana populations diverged from the neighboring mainland ones. Both Wenchang and Tunchang populations showed a higher level of differentiation from other nine island populations among which slight differentiation occurred. This study provides a theoretical support for efficiently preserving Hainan indigenous A. c. cerana as a genetic resource for future utilization.

Key words: Apis cerana cerana, genetic diversity, microsatellite DNA, alleles, heterozygosity, Hainan Island