Brood cell size of Apis mellifera modifies the reproductive behavior of Varroa destructor

MAGGI M; DAMIANI N; RUFFINENGO S.; DE JONG D; PRINCIPAL J; EGUARAS M

EXPERIMENTAL AND APPLIED ACAROLOGY

SPRINGER

Año: 2010 vol. 50 p. 269 - 279

0168-8162

We undertook a field study to determine whether comb cell size affects thereproductive behavior of Varroa destructor under natural conditions. We examined theeffect of brood cell width on the reproductive behavior of V. destructor in honey beecolonies, under natural conditions. Drone and worker brood combs were sampled from 11colonies of Apis mellifera. A Pearson correlation test and a Tukey test were used todetermine whether mite reproduction rate varied with brood cell width. Generalizedadditive model analysis showed that infestation rate increased positively and linearly withthe width of worker and drone cells. The reproduction rate for viable mother mites was0.96 viable female descendants per original invading female. No significant correlationwas observed between brood cell width and number of offspring of V. destructor. Infertilemother mites were more frequent in narrower brood cells.