Periodical
The mite Varroa destructorlowers the stinging response threshold of honey bees (Apis mellifera)
| العنوان: | The mite Varroa destructorlowers the stinging response threshold of honey bees (Apis mellifera) |
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| المؤلفون: | De la Mora, Alvaro, Morfin, Nuria, Espinosa-Montaño, Laura G., Medina-Flores, Carlos Aurelio, Guzman-Novoa, Ernesto |
| المصدر: | Journal of Apicultural Research; January 2024, Vol. 63 Issue: 1 p184-188, 5p |
| مستخلص: | AbstractThe ecto-parasitic mite Varroa destructoris an extremely damaging biotic factor of honey bees (Apis mellifera) worldwide. The magnitude of the damage that V. destructorcauses to the health of honey bees is well documented, but little is known about how it affects their behavior. For example, it is not known whether parasitism by V. destructorinfluences the bees’ defensive behavior, and since this behavior has evolutionary and practical implications, its study is of importance. In this research, we used a constant-current stimulator to expose worker bees to a 0.5 mA electric stimulus after being parasitized by Varroa mites to test the hypothesis that V. destructorparasitism affects the stinging response threshold of individual honey bees. Bees exposed to V. destructorparasitism stung significantly faster than control bees in each of three trials (p < 0.05) and thus, it is concluded that the irritation caused by V. destructorreduces the stinging response threshold of honey bees. The implications of these findings are discussed, as well as the need for further studies to understand how V. destructoraffects neuronal processes in the honey bee to make them more defensive. |
| قاعدة البيانات: | Supplemental Index |
| تدمد: | 00218839 20786913 |
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| DOI: | 10.1080/00218839.2021.1959754 |