Varroa destructor

TaxID: 109461

Basic Information

Varroa destructor

Honey bee mite, Varroa Mite, honeybee mite

Varroa destructor, the Varroa mite, is an external parasitic mite that attacks and feeds on honey bees and is one of the most damaging honey bee pests in the world. A significant mite infestation leads to the death of a honey bee colony, usually in the late autumn through early spring. Without management for Varroa mite, honey bee colonies typically collapse within 2 to 3 years in temperate climates. These mites can infest Apis mellifera, the western honey bee, and Apis cerana, the Asian honey bee. Since it is very similar physically to the closely related Varroa jacobsoni, these species were thought to be one prior to 2000, but they were found to be two separate species by DNA analysis. Parasitism of bees by mites in the genus Varroa is called varroosis. The Varroa mite can reproduce only in a honey bee colony. It attaches to the body of the bee and weakens the bee. The species is a vector for at least five debilitating bee viruses, including RNA viruses such as the deformed wing virus (DWV). The Varroa mite is the parasite with possibly the most pronounced economic impact on the beekeeping industry and is one of multiple stress factors contributing to the higher levels of bee losses around the world. Varroa mite has also been implicated as one of the multiple causes of colony collapse disorder. Management of this pest focuses on reducing mite numbers through monitoring to avoid significant hive losses or death. 3% of bees infested in a hive is considered an economic threshold where damage is high enough to warrant additional management. Miticides are available, though some are difficult to time correctly while avoiding harm to the hive, and resistance has occurred for others. Screened bottom boards on hives can be used for both monitoring and mite removal, and drone comb, which mites prefer, can be used as a trap to remove mites from the hive. Honey bee lines in breeding programs also show partial resistance to Varroa mite through increased hygienic behavior that is being incorporated as an additional management strategy.

from Wikipedia

Taxonomic Information

Metazoa

Arthropoda

Arachnida

Mesostigmata

Varroidae

Varroa

destructor

unclassified

Photos (5 photos)

Varroa destructor
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(c) Gilles San Martin@BY-SA
Varroa destructor
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(c) dava123@BY-NC
Varroa destructor
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(c) Gilles San Martin@BY-SA
Varroa destructor
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(c) Gilles San Martin@BY-SA
Varroa destructor
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(c) A. Rector@BY-NC

Morphological Features

No morphological description available.

Host Plants (0 host plants)

Data sources: EPPO Global Database and relevant literature.

No host plants available.

Quarantine Status (2 records)

Data sources: IPPC website and national quarantine websites; verified by human review.

Country Status Year Added
Antigua and Barbuda Quarantine pests —
Australia Quarantine pests —

Distribution (49 countries)

Data Sources: EPPO Global Database and GBIF.

49
Present
0
Absent
0
Unknown/Other
Country Status State
Argentina Present —
Australia Present —
Austria Present —
Belgium Present —
Bosnia and Herzegovina Present —
Belarus Present —
Brazil Present —
Canada Present —
Switzerland Present —
Chile Present —
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Distribution Map (Latitude and longitude coordinates sourced from GBIF.)

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Genomes (3 records)

Data source: NCBI.

Assembly Accession Assembly Level Genome Size(Mb) Contig N50(Kb) Scaffold N50(Kb) BUSCO% Downloads Actions
GCF_002443255.2 Scaffold 368 201 58536 -
GCF_002443255.1 Scaffold 368 201 58536 0.987389207%
GCA_000181155.2 Scaffold 331 15 128 -

Transcriptomes (3 records)

Data source: NCBI.

Run ID Tissue Developmental Stage Sex Read Count Location Actions
SRR32197511 Whole body Adult female 37901855 China: Hangzhou
SRR32197510 Whole body Adult female 31548757 China: Hangzhou
SRR32197509 Whole body Adult female 36605156 China: Hangzhou

DNA Barcodes (0 records)

View all

Data source: BOLD.

No DNA barcode records available.

Literature