| Varroa jacobsoni | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Mesostigmata |
| Family: | Varroidae |
| Genus: | Varroa |
| Species: | V. jacobsoni |
| Binomial name | |
| Varroa jacobsoni Oudemans, 1904 |
|
Varroa jacobsoni is a species of mite that parasitises Apis cerana (Asian honey bees). The more damaging Varroa destructor was previously included under the name V. jacobsoni, but the two species can be separated on the basis of the DNA sequence of the cytochrome oxidase I (COI) gene in the mitochondrial DNA.[1]
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Prior to recent studies, V. jacobsoni was considered homogeneous; however, current research has detected genetic variance among populations by using genetic markers.[2][3] This finding has led to the belief that V. jacobsoni was introduced to the Americas multiple times. The hosts switch between the eastern A. cerana and the western A. mellifera is the major factor that broadens the pathological transmission of V. jacobsoni.[4] It has spread worldwide with the exception of Australia, central Africa, and New Zealand.
At least 30 lineages of mites have specialized in living with bees. Most mite species associated with bee nests are either sparophagous or cleptophagous. Sarophagous is when mites eat hive debris, especially parts of fungi growing. Cleptophagous is when mites eat pollen and other nutrients stored by bees. Interestingly, the small few that have evolved to become parasitic appear to have arisen from predatory lineages. The family Laelapidae has 12 genera that predate on sting-less bees (Meliponinae). Thus, it appears that the brood parasites (Varroidae) of honeybees (Apinae) evolved from the Laelapidae family.[5]
The life cycle of V. jacobsoni in A. mellifera begins with a mature mated female entering a larval cell of a honey bee. Once the cell is capped, the mother mite hides for five days inside the larval food near the bottom of the cell. After about five hours, the mite is released from the food, where it then begins feeding on the host's haemolymph.[6] After sixty hours, the mother lays its first egg on the wall of the cell.[7] The eggs that are laid either unfertilised eggs, which result in male and fertilized eggs hatches, the unfertilized male offspring is able to mate with the female offspring. The adult mated female then emerges from the cell with emerging bee. Once mites are released to external environment, the mites are then transfer through close contact with another bee. The adult female mites then feed through inner segmental membrane on honeybee haemolymph. The cycle is then completed.
Acaricides are pesticides that kill members of the Acari group, which includes ticks and mites. Acaricides were at one point in time an effective method in regulating the transmission of V. jacobsoni in honey bees; however, the build of residues in resistant-strains to acaricides have decreased the effectiveness of mite control in honey bees. Among those acaricides used are acrinathrin, amitraz, bromopropylate, chlordimeform, coumaphos, flumethrin and fluvalinate. Fluvalinate is the most effective acaricide.[8]