Editing Varroa destructor (section)

==Life cycle==
Female mites enter [[Bee brood|brood cell]]s to lay eggs on the comb wall after the cell is capped. Eggs are approximately 0.2 to 0.3&nbsp;mm in diameter and cannot be seen without magnification. These eggs hatch into male and female protonymphs that are both transparent white. Immature mites can only feed on capped brood, so the life cycle cannot be completed during broodless periods. Protonymphs molt into deuteronymphs that more closely resemble the curved body of adults before they molt into adults. Development time from egg to adult is 6{{endash}}7 days. Males will not leave brood cells and only mate with females present in the brood cell.<ref name="FloridaIFAS"/>

Adult females can be found feeding both on brood and adult bees. After reaching the adult stage, females will leave the brood cell and enter a [[phoretic]] stage where mites attach to adult bees in order to disperse. Mites will feed on adult bees at this time and can be transmitted from bee to bee during this stage. Nurse bees are preferred hosts in order to be moved to new brood cells. Because the nurse bee spends more time around the [[Drone (bee)|drone brood]] (i.e., male bees) rather than the worker brood, many more drones are infected with the mites.<ref name="Rosenkranz"/> These phoretic females can also be transmitted to other hives through bee contact or hive equipment transfer. The phoretic stage can last for 4.5{{endash}}11 days during brood production periods or up to five to six months when no brood is present in winter months. Female mites have a life expectancy of 27 days when brood is present.<ref name="FloridaIFAS"/>

After the phoretic stage, female mites leave the adult bee and enter brood cells with bee larvae. Drone cells are preferred over workers. These females are called foundress mites, and they bury themselves in brood food provided by worker bees before the cell is capped. Brood cell capping begins egg cell activation for a foundress mite while she emerges to feed on the larva.<ref name="Reams"/> She will lay a single unfertilized egg after feeding to produce a male mite. After laying this egg, fertilized eggs to produce females are laid approximately once a day. Both the mother and nymphs will feed on the developing pupa. Unless multiple foundress mites are present in a cell, mating occurs between siblings when they reach the adult stage. Once females mate, they are unable to receive additional sperm.<ref name="FloridaIFAS"/> Varroa mite's [[genetic bottleneck]] is also likely due to its habit of sibling mating.<ref name="Reams"/>

<gallery mode="nolines" widths="240">
File:Varroa destructor protonymph (5048063601).jpg|''V. destructor'' protonymph
File:Varroa destructor deutonymph.jpg|Deutonymph of ''V.&nbsp;destructor'' 
File:Varroa destructor (Adult Male) (5048079279).jpg|''V. destructor'' adult male
File:Varroa on larvae.jpg|Varroa mite on bee larva
File:Vorroa Mite on pupa.JPG|Varroa mites on pupa
File:Female Varroa destructor on the head of a bee nymph (5048103407).jpg|Adult female in frontal view
File:Varroa destructor ventral.jpg|Adult female in ventral view
File:Varroa destructor dorsal.jpg|Adult female in dorsal view
File:Varroa destructor microscope.jpg|Adult female mounted for microscopy
</gallery>