Varroa+mite+history+(PRM)


 * A history of //Var////r//oa**

//Varroa// is one of the genus included in the //Varroidae// family. There are four known species, which look almost identical, within this genus:

//Varroa rindereri –// Is the mite that takes //Apis koschevnikovi// as a host in Borneo.

//Varroa underwoodi –// Is found as a parasite on the Eastern honey bee, //Apis cerana//.

//Varroa jacobsoni –// Also parasitises //Apis cerana.//

//Varroa destructor –// Is the notorious mite known to devastate //Apis mellifera// (the common european honey bee) colonies.

//Varroa destructor// was mistakenly assumed to be //V. jacobsoni// until the year 2000, when they were conclusively separated by genetic sequencing (Anderson,D.L. 2000). It appears that the two mites differ genetically by around 6.9%.

It is assumed that //V. destructor// shifted from its original host, //A. cerana,// though very little is known about the circumstances. The most credible theory is that the host chang was made possible when European honey bee colonies were shipped to eastern Russia, or possibly the Far East sometime early in the twentieth century. This led to a parallel occupation of habitats, with both //A. cerana// and //A. mellifera// living together which may have prompted such a transfer (Oldroyd,Benjamin P. 1999).

Therefore //Varroa// //destructor// is the mite of interest to us.

//Varroa destructor//. Source: http://somethingscrawlinginmyhair.com/2007/10/06/i-hate-these-sooo-much/

//Varroa jacobsoni//. Source: http://www.utahcountybeekeepers.org/Diseases%20Pests%20and%20Parasites.html