Parallel evolution of Varroa resistance in honey bees: a common mechanism across continents?

The near-globally distributed ecto-parasitic mite of the honeybee, has formed a lethal association with Deformed wing virus, a once rare and benign RNA virus. In concert, the two have killed millions of wild and managed colonies, particularly across the Northern Hemisphere, forcing the need for regu...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the Royal Society B : Biological Sciences Vol. 288; no. 1956; p. 20211375
Main Authors: Grindrod, Isobel, Martin, Stephen J
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: England 11.08.2021
Subjects:
Animals
Bees - genetics
Reproduction
RNA Viruses
Varroidae
Apis mellifera
Varroa destructor
brood removal
mite infertility
recapping
Varroa resistance
ISSN:1471-2954, 1471-2954
Online Access:Get more information
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Summary:The near-globally distributed ecto-parasitic mite of the honeybee, has formed a lethal association with Deformed wing virus, a once rare and benign RNA virus. In concert, the two have killed millions of wild and managed colonies, particularly across the Northern Hemisphere, forcing the need for regular acaricide application to ensure colony survival. However, despite the short association (in evolutionary terms), a small but increasing number of populations across the globe have been surviving many years without any mite control methods. This long-term survival, or resistance, is consistently associated with the same suite of traits (recapping, brood removal and reduced mite reproduction) irrespective of location. Here we conduct an analysis of data extracted from 60 papers to illustrate how these traits connect together to explain decades of mite resistance data. We have potentially a unified understanding of natural resistance that will help the global industry achieve widespread miticide-free beekeeping and indicate how different honeybee populations across four continents have resolved a recent threat using the same suite of behaviours.
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ISSN:1471-2954
1471-2954
DOI:10.1098/rspb.2021.1375