How Crucial is the Functional Pit Organ for the Mite?

Overview

Journal Insects

Specialty Biology

Date 2020 Jul 2

PMID 32604887

Citations 8

Authors

Beatrice T Nganso

Kannan Mani

Yam Altman

Ada Rafaeli

Victoria Soroker

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Olfaction as well as gustation, are essential for animal survival, allowing behavioral modulation according to environmental input. We focused our study on an obligate ecto-parasitic mite of honey bees, the Anderson and Trueman (Parasitiformes, Mesostigmata, Varroidae). By mechanically blocking the main olfactory organ on forelegs by varnishing with nail polish, we were able to show that other sensory organs cannot significantly compensate chemosensory abilities required for mite's host selection, identification as well as reproduction. In fact, we found that mites with blocked forelegs had a significantly lower ability to reach a host bee than those with varnished idiosoma and unvarnished control. Furthermore, fewer foreleg blocked mites were feeding on the nurse bees and their reproduction in the brood cells was significantly impaired. The inhibition of reproduction was also reflected in altered expression levels of vitellogenin and vitellogenin receptor genes in foreleg-blocked mites.

Citing Articles

Unique brood ester profile in a Varroa destructor resistant population of European honey bee (Apis mellifera).

Scaramella N, Glinwood R, Locke B Sci Rep. 2024; 14(1):25531.

PMID: 39462055 PMC: 11513966. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-76399-6.

Chemosensory function of Varroa gnathosoma: transcriptomic and proteomic analyses.

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PMID: 39441431 PMC: 11534843. DOI: 10.1007/s10493-024-00952-1.

The Varroa paradox: infestation levels and hygienic behavior in feral scutellata-hybrid and managed Apis mellifera ligustica honey bees.

Mukogawa B, Nieh J Sci Rep. 2024; 14(1):1148.

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Varroa destructor relies on physical cues to feed in artificial conditions.

Piou V, Vilarem C, Blanchard S, Armengaud C, Heeb P, Vetillard A Parasite. 2023; 30:49.

PMID: 37962478 PMC: 10644891. DOI: 10.1051/parasite/2023049.

Automated, non-invasive Varroa mite detection by vibrational measurements of gait combined with machine learning.

Hall H, Bencsik M, Newton M Sci Rep. 2023; 13(1):10202.

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