Editing Varroa destructor (section)

{{Short description|Species of mite}}
{{Good article}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Varroa recto verso vertical.jpg
| image_caption = ''Varroa destructor'' adult female in dorsal (top) and ventral (lower) views
| genus = Varroa
| species = destructor
| authority = Anderson & Trueman, 2000<ref name="Anderson and Trueman  2000"/>
}}

'''''Varroa destructor''''', the '''Varroa mite''', is an [[ectoparasite|external parasitic]] [[mite]] that attacks and feeds on [[honey bee]]s and is one of the most damaging honey bee pests in the world.<ref name="Zakar2014">{{cite journal |last1=Zakar |first1=E. |last2=Jávor |first2=A. |last3=Kusza |first3=Sz. |title=Genetic bases of tolerance to Varroa destructor in honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) |journal=Insectes Sociaux |date=August 2014 |volume=61 |issue=3 |pages=207–215 |doi=10.1007/s00040-014-0347-5|s2cid=253641352 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Onstad |editor1-first=David |title=Insect resistance management: biology, economics and prediction |date=2008 |publisher=Elsevier/Acad. Press |location=Amsterdam |isbn=978-0-12-373858-5 |page=157 |edition=1.}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Rosenkranz">{{cite journal |last1=Rosenkranz |first1=Peter |last2=Aumeier |first2=Pia |last3=Ziegelmann |first3=Bettina |title=Biology and control of Varroa destructor |journal=Journal of Invertebrate Pathology |date=January 2010 |volume=103 |pages=S96–S119 |doi=10.1016/j.jip.2009.07.016|pmid=19909970 |bibcode=2010JInvP.103S..96R }}</ref>  These mites can infest ''[[Apis mellifera]]'', the western honey bee, and ''[[Apis cerana]]'', the Asian honey bee. Due to very similar physical characteristics, this species was thought to be the closely related ''[[Varroa jacobsoni]]'' prior to 2000, but they were found to be two separate species after 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.<ref name="vanEngelsdorp 1792–1801"/> The species is a vector for at least five debilitating bee viruses,<ref name="vanEngelsdorp 1792–1801">{{cite journal |last1=Ramsey |first1=Samuel D. |last2=Ochoa |first2=Ronald |last3=Bauchan |first3=Gary |last4=Gulbronson |first4=Connor |last5=Mowery |first5=Joseph D. |last6=Cohen |first6=Allen |last7=Lim |first7=David |last8=Joklik |first8=Judith |last9=Cicero |first9=Joseph M. |last10=Ellis |first10=James D. |last11=Hawthorne |first11=David |last12=vanEngelsdorp |first12=Dennis |author12-link =Dennis vanEngelsdorp|title=''Varroa destructor'' feeds primarily on honey bee fat body tissue and not hemolymph |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |date=29 January 2019 |volume=116 |issue=5 |pages=1792–1801 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1818371116 |pmid=30647116 |pmc=6358713 |bibcode=2019PNAS..116.1792R |doi-access=free }}</ref> including [[RNA virus]]es 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.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Goulson|first1=D.|last2=Nicholls |first2=E. |last3=Botias |first3=C. |last4=Rotheray |first4=E. L. |title=Bee declines driven by combined stress from parasites, pesticides, and lack of flowers |journal=Science |date=26 February 2015 |volume=347 |issue=6229 |page=1255957 |doi=10.1126/science.1255957 |pmid=25721506 |s2cid=206558985 |url=http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/54228/1/Science_1255957_Goulson_RV_revised_CA_edited.pdf|author-link1=David Goulson}}</ref> 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 that 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.