Mycoflora and fungal vector capacity of the parasitic mite Varroa destructor (Mesostigmata: Varroidae) in honey bee (Hymenoptera: Apidae) colonies
2004
Benoit, Joshua B. | Yoder, Jay A. | Sammataro, Diana | Zettler, Lawrence W.
Female adults of the honey bee mite, Varroa destructor, have fungi on their surfaces, and have the potential to disperse fungal spores (conidia) throughout the bee colony. Fungi present are typical of those associated with bees, their combs and provisions, and are common filamentous, soil saprophytes (listed in order of relative abundance): Aspergillus, Penicillium, Fusarium, Trichoderma, Alternaria, Rhizopus and Mucor. These fungi have no biological control implications (i.e., entomopathogenic) because none were recovered internally within the mites; absence of fungi internally also implies that this mite is not a fungivore. Our isolation of Aspergillus flavus, agent of stonebrood disease in honey bees, implicates Varroa as a potential fungal vector of stonebrood disease.
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