scholarly journals Worldwide Diaspora of Aethina tumida (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae), a Nest Parasite of Honey Bees

2010 ◽  
Vol 103 (4) ◽  
pp. 671-677 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zachary Lounsberry ◽  
Sebastian Spiewok ◽  
Stephen F. Pernal ◽  
Tad S. Sonstegard ◽  
W. Michael Hood ◽  
...  
2008 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 698-700 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. D. EVANS ◽  
S. SPIEWOK ◽  
E. W. TEIXEIRA ◽  
P. NEUMANN

2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (57) ◽  
pp. 7467-7484
Author(s):  
KL Akinwande ◽  
◽  
MA Badejo ◽  
SS Ogbogu ◽  
◽  
...  

The southwestern part of Nigeria is a tropical rainforest region having many local beekeepers. The se beekeepers have experienced decline in colony establishment in the recent past . A study carried out in Lagos, Ogun and Osun states between December 2009 and September 2011 examined 14 randomly selected commercial bee farms for problems associated with decline in colony establishment . Sampling and treatments were split equally between each apiary and three colonies were selected in each . All the colonies were housed in Tanzania /local top bar hive s. There were 58.34, 44.84 and 40.61 average percentage declines in colony establishment in Lagos, Ogun and Osun States , respectively. Presence of pests and diseases, pesticide poisoning, poor hive and seasonal management, ecological problem and lack of queen rearing were potential problems identified by the beekeepers . All the apiaries had pests like Crickets, Ants ( Companotus pennsylvanicus ), Small Hive beetle ( Aethina tumida ), Termites ( Macrotermes spp ) and Spider ( Lactrodectus mactan ) . Varroa mite infestations were found in 33 (78.57%) of apiaries sampled. There was no significant difference between the levels of Varroa infestation in all the colonies during the dry and wet seasons at confidence interval of 95 percent ( t = 1.542, df = 13, p = 0.147 ( p > 0.05) . Nosema spores were found in 27 (64.29%) colonies examined. The number of spores range from 16 x 10 3 to 30.4 x 10 3 . T here were no significant differences in the infection from colony to colony, apiary to apiary and between dry and wet seasons ( t = - 0.094 df = 11, P = 0.927 (P > 0.05). Diseases like American and European foulbrood were absent while chalkbrood disease was prevalent. Environmental factors of high temperature, high rainfall and high relative and hive humidity enhanced the spread of pests and disease pathogens. Many insecticides were constantly applied by the farmers on the crops in the surrounding farmland. Two of the commonly used insecticides DDVP (Dichlorvos) and Cyperforce (Cypermetrin) were discovered to have increased mortality on worker honey bees with progressively larger doses. It was obvious that insecticide toxicity had a significant effect on the colony. Hence , ecological and management problems had contributed to the decline in colony establishment in this area.


Genomics Data ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 97-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew R. Tarver ◽  
Qiang Huang ◽  
Lilia de Guzman ◽  
Tom Rinderer ◽  
Beth Holloway ◽  
...  

Apidologie ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 399-408 ◽  
Author(s):  
James D. Ellis ◽  
Randall Hepburn ◽  
Keith S. Delaplane ◽  
Peter Neumann ◽  
Patti J. Elzen

Insects ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 459
Author(s):  
Muhammad Noor-ul-Ane ◽  
Chuleui Jung

The small hive beetle (SHB) Aethina tumida Murray, (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae) is now a global invasive pest of honey bees, but its cold tolerance potential has not been yet explored. Therefore, we measured the supercooling point (SCP) of different stages of SHBs and also the impact of acclimation on their SCPs and survival as a measure for cold tolerance. Combinations of different temperatures (0, 3, 5, 7, and 10 ∘C) for different hours (1, 3, 5, 7, 12, 24, 35, and 48 h) were used to assess SHB survival. The supercooling points occurred at lower temperatures (−19.4 ∘C) in wandering larvae than in the other stages (pupae: −12.5 ∘C, and feeding larvae: −10.7 ∘C). A lethal temperature (LT50) of feeding larvae was achieved earlier at 4.9 ∘C after 7 h exposure than the wandering larvae (3.7 ∘C at 48 h) and pupae (5.6 ∘C at 48 h). The sum of injurious temperature (SIT) is the most suitable estimation to describe cold resistance of the SHB immatures. The wandering larvae were the most cold tolerant, followed by pupae and feeding larvae based on SIT values of −286.8, −153.7 and −28.7 DD, respectively, and also showed more phenotypic plasticity after acclimation than feeding larvae and slightly more than pupae. Our results show that all stages, i.e., feeding larvae, wandering larvae and pupae, are chill susceptible. However, these stages, especially wandering larvae and pupae, showed the capacity to acclimate to cold temperatures, which may help them to survive in winter for the continuity of the SHB population, especially in a scenario of climate change.


2020 ◽  
pp. jeb.234807
Author(s):  
Zoë Langlands ◽  
Esther E. du Rand ◽  
Karl Crailsheim ◽  
Abdullahi A. Yusuf ◽  
Christian W. W. Pirk

The honeybee nest parasite Aethina tumida (small hive beetle), uses behavioural mimicry to induce trophallactic feeding from its honeybee hosts. Small hive beetles are able to induce honeybee workers to share the carbohydrate–rich contents of their crops, but it is not clear whether the beetles are able to induce to workers to feed them the protein-rich hypopharyngeal glandular secretions fed to the queen, larvae and other nest mates. Protein is a limiting macronutrient in an insect's diet, essential for survival, growth and fecundity. Honeybees obtain protein from pollen, which is consumed and digested by nurse bees. They then distribute the protein to the rest of the colony in the form of hypopharyngeal gland secretions. Using 14C-phenylalanine as a qualitative marker for protein transfer, we show that small hive beetles successfully induce worker bees to feed them the protein-rich secretions of their hypopharyngeal glands during trophallaxis, and that females are more successful than males in inducing the transfer of these protein-rich secretions. Furthermore, behavioural observations demonstrated that female beetles do not preferentially interact with a specific age cohort of bees when soliciting food, but males tend to be more discriminate and avoids the more aggressive and active older bees.


2020 ◽  
Vol 113 (6) ◽  
pp. 3032-3034
Author(s):  
Bram Cornelissen ◽  
Peter Neumann ◽  
James D Ellis

Abstract The small hive beetle, Aethina tumida Murray, is an invasive pest that has spread globally. Western honey bees, Apis mellifera Linnaeus (Hymenoptera: Apidae), are considered the most important host and infestations can lead to collapse of colonies. Larvae feed on honey, pollen, and brood inside the hive and leave the hive as postfeeding wandering larvae to pupate in the surrounding soil. Other host species include bumble bees, stingless bees, and solitary bees, all of which can facilitate small hive beetle reproduction and are used for greenhouse crop pollination worldwide. Here, we investigated if small hive beetles can complete their life cycle when soil is absent by pupating in plant root-supporting substrates commonly used in greenhouses. Wandering small hive beetle larvae were introduced into containers with coconut fiber, perlite, a mixture of both and stone wool substrates to investigate pupation success and development time. Sand was used as control substrate. In all but one substrate (perlite), small hive beetles developed into adults equally well as they did in the sand. Development time ranged between 23 and 37 d and was not different from that of the control. We showed that small hive beetles can pupate in greenhouse substrates. This could constitute a problem for greenhouse pollination as well as it could facilitate small hive beetle survival in areas which otherwise would be deemed unsuitable or marginal environments for small hive beetles to become established. Our study highlights the opportunistic nature of the small hive beetle as an invasive species.


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