title: Age and reproductive status of adult Varroa mites affect grooming success of honey bees.
abstract: This study evaluated for the first time the grooming response of honey bees to Varroa mites of different ages and reproductive statuses in the laboratory. Plastic cages containing a section of dark comb and about 200 bees were inoculated with groups of four classes of mites: gravid, phoretic foundresses, phoretic daughters and a combination of gravid and phoretic foundress mites. Each cage received 20 mites belonging to one of these classes. Our results showed that, 1 day after mite inoculation, phoretic daughter mites were the most prone to grooming by honey bees with an average mite drop of 49.8 ± 2.6 %. The lowest mite drop was recorded for bees inoculated with phoretic foundresses (30.3 ± 3.6 %) but was comparable to bees inoculated with gravid mites (31.8 ± 3.8 %) and the combination of gravid and phoretic foundress mites (34.2 ± 3.2 %). No differences among mite types were detected during the second and third days of observation. Regardless of mite type, the highest mite drop was recorded on the first day (35 ± 2.1 %) compared to the drop for any subsequent day (<10 %). Because of the great reproductive potential of daughter mites, their inclusion in assessments of grooming behaviour may increase our insight into the importance of grooming in mite resistance.
authors: School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences (BEES), University College Cork, Cork, Ireland, UK. m.kirrane@umail.ucc.ie
authors: Maria J
authors: MJ
authors: Kirrane
authors: Lilia I
authors: LI
authors: de Guzman
authors: Thomas E
authors: TE
authors: Rinderer
authors: Amanda M
authors: AM
authors: Frake
authors: Jeremy
authors: J
authors: Wagnitz
authors: Pádraig M
authors: PM
authors: Whelan
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D001516:Bees / Q000469:parasitology*; D006120:Grooming; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions; D008018:Life Cycle Stages; D012098:Reproduction; D057077:Varroidae / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000502:physiology