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Grooming behaviour of Apis mellifera syriaca towards Varroa jacobsoni in Jordan
Author(s) -
Zaitoun S. T.,
AlGhzawi A.M. A.,
Shannag H. K.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
journal of applied entomology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.795
H-Index - 60
eISSN - 1439-0418
pISSN - 0931-2048
DOI - 10.1111/j.1439-0418.2001.00505.x
Subject(s) - varroa jacobsoni , biology , brood , mite , varroa , zoology , acari , honey bee , botany , hymenoptera , apidae
Eight Apis mellifera syriaca colonies at the Jordan University of Science and Technology campus in Jordan were used in the experiments to detect defence behaviour of worker bees against Varroa jacobsoni . This defence mechanism was determined by the degree of damaged mites that dropped from naturally infested colonies on inserts placed under the brood nest from June to October 1998. The average percentage of all dropping mites that were injured was 22.8%. A total of 86.5% of amputated mites were pigmented and 13.5% were less pigmented. Amputation to the first pair of legs was more often seen. Most of the phoretic mites were concealed between sclerites laterally on the abdomen, with distinct preference between second and third tergites. The grooming activity of A. mellifera syriaca provides evidence of active mechanisms of resistance toward the parasitic Varroa ‐mite.