Morphotypes of Varroa destructor mites in different geographic locations of Argentina.

M.MAGGI,; N.SARDELLA,; RUFFINENGO S.; EGUARAS M

PARASITOLOGY RESEARCH

SPRINGER

Año: 2009 p. 1629 - 1636

0932-0113

Abstract Parasites display considerable phenotypic plasticityin life-history traits such as, body size. Varroa destructor is an ectoparasitic mite of the western honey bee Apis mellifera. Several studies have reported that in V. destructor, there is a wide phenotypic plasticity within a population of mites. However, it is unknown if there are morphologic variations in V. destructor populations affecting different A. mellifera populations. A morphometric study of V. destructor populations was conducted to provide information concerned to the relationships among parasite populations found in different geographic locations from A. mellifera colonies of Argentina. The hypothesis tested was different morphotypes of V. destructor populations parasitizing different A. mellifera populations from Argentina exist. A discriminant analysis employing eight morphologic variables revealed that it is possible to differentiate morphotypes of mites in Argentina. However, the level of discrimination detected among mites population varied according to the grouping of mites population.  possible causes explaining the morphometric variability in the V. destructor populations were discussed.