Varroa jacobsoni

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Varroa jacobsoni
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Arachnida Order: Acari Family: Parasitidae Genus: Varroa Species: V. jacobsoni
Binomial name
Varroa jacobsoni Oudemans, 1904

Varroa jacobsoni mites are a relatively benign parasite of Apis cerana (Asian honey bees).

Until very recently it was thought that they were the cause of the varroatosis, a parasitic disease that plagues Western honey bees, Apis mellifera, since the early 1960s. Only in 2000 a separate species of Varroa, Varroa destructor, was positively identified as the only Varroa mites that can reproduce in colonies of Apis mellifera.