AFRICANIZED BEE

[Africanized bee] n (1974): a honeybee that originated in Brazil as an accidental hybrid between an aggressive African subspecies (Apis mellifera scutellata) and previously established European honeybees and has spread to Mexico and the southernmost U.S. by breeding with local bees producing populations retaining most of the African bee's traits--called also Africanized honeybee, killer bee