Arbogast Richard T, Torto Baldwyn, Willms Steve, Teal Peter E A
USDA-ARS-CMAVE, 1600/1700 SW 23rd Dr., Gainesville, FL 32608, USA.
Environ Entomol. 2009 Jun;38(3):561-8. doi: 10.1603/022.038.0307.
Aethina tumida Murray is an African native that has become an important pest of honey bee colonies in North America and Australia. Adults and larvae feed on pollen, honey, and brood in bee hives. The beetle is also able to feed and reproduce on fresh or rotting fruit, but natural occurrence on this diet has rarely been observed. We compared the reproductive success-as measured by progeny production, weight of progeny, developmental rate, and survival of immature stages-of beetles reared on various diets of fruit and bee products. Reproduction on all of the diets was sufficient for population growth. Using baited flight traps to monitor the presence of A. tumida, we found persistent although tenuous populations in wooded habitats lacking managed bee colonies. On the basis of these findings and the habits of other nitidulid beetles, we propose that A. tumida is an ecological generalist able to maintain adequate levels of reproduction in marginal environments but able to reach high levels in favorable, resource rich environments, such as honey bee colonies. This hypothesis has significance for active dispersal and range expansion, because reproduction in the absence of bees would facilitate long range dispersal by flight through successive generations. Although our findings support the hypothesis, definitive proof would require association of beetles with hosts, trapping adults as they emerge from the soil, or other methods that would confirm feeding and reproduction at a given site, rather than immigration from bee colonies.
小蜂螨（Aethina tumida Murray）原产于非洲，现已成为北美和澳大利亚蜜蜂蜂群的一种重要害虫。成虫和幼虫以蜂箱中的花粉、蜂蜜和幼虫为食。这种甲虫也能在新鲜或腐烂的水果上取食和繁殖，但很少观察到其自然以这种食物为食的情况。我们比较了在各种水果和蜂产品饮食条件下饲养的甲虫的繁殖成功率，繁殖成功率通过后代产量、后代体重、发育速率和未成熟阶段的存活率来衡量。在所有这些饮食条件下的繁殖都足以实现种群增长。我们使用诱饵飞行诱捕器来监测小蜂螨的存在，发现在没有管理蜂群的树木繁茂栖息地中存在持续但数量稀少的种群。基于这些发现以及其他露尾甲科甲虫的习性，我们提出小蜂螨是一种生态通才，能够在边缘环境中维持足够的繁殖水平，但在有利的、资源丰富的环境（如蜜蜂蜂群）中能够达到较高水平。这一假设对于主动扩散和分布范围扩大具有重要意义，因为在没有蜜蜂的情况下繁殖将有助于通过连续几代的飞行进行远距离扩散。尽管我们的发现支持这一假设，但确凿的证据需要将甲虫与宿主联系起来，在它们从土壤中出现时捕获成虫，或者采用其他能够证实甲虫在特定地点取食和繁殖而非从蜂群迁入的方法。
