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Mutations associated with pyrethroid resistance in Varroa mite, a parasite of honey bees, are widespread across the United States
Author(s) -
MillánLeiva Anabel,
Marín Óscar,
Christmon Krisztina,
vanEngelsdorp Dennis,
GonzálezCabrera Joel
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
pest management science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.296
H-Index - 125
eISSN - 1526-4998
pISSN - 1526-498X
DOI - 10.1002/ps.6366
Subject(s) - varroa , varroa destructor , biology , apiary , honey bee , pyrethroid , mite , varroa sensitive hygiene , toxicology , permethrin , pollinator , acaricide , beekeeping , deformed wing virus , microbiology and biotechnology , zoology , pesticide , ecology , pollination , pollen
BACKGROUND Managed honey bees are key pollinators of many crops and play an essential role in the United States food production. For more than ten years, beekeepers in the United States have been reporting high rates of colony losses. One of the drivers of these losses is the parasitic mite Varroa destructor . Maintaining healthy honey bee colonies in the United States is dependent on a successful control of this mite. The pyrethroid tau ‐fluvalinate (Apistan®) was among the first synthetic varroacides registered in the United States. With over 20 years of use, mites resistant to Apistan® have emerged, and so it is unsurprising that treatment failures have been reported. Resistance to tau ‐fluvalinate in US mite populations is associated with point mutations at position 925 of the voltage‐gated sodium channel. RESULTS Here, we have generated a distribution map of pyrethroid resistance alleles in Varroa samples collected from US apiaries in 2016 and 2017, using a high throughput allelic discrimination assay based on TaqMan®. Our results evidence that knockdown resistance ( kdr ) ‐ type mutations are widely distributed in Varroa populations across the country showing high variability among apiaries. We used these data to predict the phenotype of the mites in the case of treatments with pyrethroids. CONCLUSION We highlight the relevance of monitoring the resistance in mite populations to achieve an efficient control of this pest. We also put forward the benefits of implementing this methodology to provide data for designing pest management programs aiming to control Varroa. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry