Département de phytologie, Université Laval, Québec City, Quebec, Canada.
Département de biologie, Université Laval, Québec City, Quebec, Canada.
PLoS One. 2018 Dec 7;13(12):e0208812. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0208812. eCollection 2018.
The biocontrol of the honey bee ectoparasite Varroa destructor is an underexploited but promising avenue that would benefit from being integrated in a Varroa management program. Our study aimed to investigate the potential of the predatory mite Stratiolaelaps scimitus to control Varroa infestations in honey bees. Tests on safety and predation were carried out to: (1) assess the risk of predation of the honey bee brood by S. scimitus under laboratory conditions and within the colony, and (2) evaluate the predation potential of S. scimitus on phoretic Varroa mites. Under laboratory conditions, S. scimitus was able to feed upon free Varroa mites, but also attacked every unprotected honey bee brood stages with a strong preference for bee eggs. When introduced inside colonies, however, S. scimitus does not have negative effects on the survival of the bee brood. Moreover, observations made in the laboratory revealed that S. scimitus does not attack Varroa mites when they are attached to the body of bees. However, all Varroa mites that had naturally fallen from the bees were predated upon by S. scimitus and died in less than 24h. This study provides evidence that S. scimitus does not represent a significant threat to the bee brood, but also suggests that its effect in Varroa control will probably be limited as it does not attack phoretic Varroa mites. Our results represent a first step in assessing the potential of S. scimitus to control V. destructor and provide novel information about the predator's behavior inside the honey bee colony.
利用捕食螨防治蜜蜂外寄生虫瓦螨是一种尚未得到充分开发但具有广阔前景的方法，可将其整合到瓦螨管理方案中。本研究旨在调查捕食性螨沙氏嗜木螨控制蜜蜂瓦螨感染的潜力。通过安全性和捕食测试进行了以下研究：（1）评估沙氏嗜木螨在实验室条件下和蜂群内捕食蜜蜂幼虫的风险，以及（2）评估沙氏嗜木螨对寄生瓦螨的捕食潜力。在实验室条件下，沙氏嗜木螨能够以游离瓦螨为食，但也强烈偏好攻击未受保护的各个蜜蜂幼虫阶段。然而，当引入蜂群中时，沙氏嗜木螨对蜂群幼虫的存活没有负面影响。此外，在实验室中的观察表明，当瓦螨附着在蜜蜂身上时，沙氏嗜木螨不会攻击它们。然而，所有自然从蜜蜂身上掉落的瓦螨都被沙氏嗜木螨捕食，并在不到 24 小时内死亡。本研究提供了证据表明，沙氏嗜木螨不会对蜜蜂幼虫构成重大威胁，但也表明它在控制瓦螨方面的效果可能有限，因为它不会攻击寄生瓦螨。我们的研究结果代表了评估沙氏嗜木螨控制瓦螨潜力的第一步，并提供了有关该捕食者在蜜蜂群内行为的新信息。
