Department of Entomology, Texas A&M University, 2475 TAMU, College Station, TX, 77843-2475, USA.
Sci Rep. 2020 Feb 19;10(1):2923. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-59712-x.
Interspecies virus transmission involving economically important pollinators, including honey bees (Apis mellifera), has recently sparked research interests regarding pollinator health. Given that ants are common pests within apiaries in the southern U.S., the goals of this study were to (1) survey ants found within or near managed honey bee colonies, (2) document what interactions are occurring between ant pests and managed honey bees, and 3) determine if any of six commonly occurring honey bee-associated viruses were present in ants collected from within or far from apiaries. Ants belonging to 14 genera were observed interacting with managed honey bee colonies in multiple ways, most commonly by robbing sugar resources from within hives. We detected at least one virus in 89% of the ant samples collected from apiary sites (n = 57) and in 15% of ant samples collected at non-apiary sites (n = 20). We found that none of these ant samples tested positive for the replication of Deformed wing virus, Black queen cell virus, or Israeli acute paralysis virus, however. Future studies looking at possible virus transmission between ants and bees could determine whether ants can be considered mechanical vectors of honey bee-associated viruses, making them a potential threat to pollinator health.
种间病毒传播涉及到经济上重要的传粉媒介，包括蜜蜂（Apis mellifera），最近引起了人们对传粉媒介健康的研究兴趣。鉴于在美国南部的养蜂场中蚂蚁是常见的害虫，本研究的目的是：（1）调查在管理良好的蜜蜂群体内或附近发现的蚂蚁，（2）记录蚂蚁害虫与管理良好的蜜蜂之间发生的哪些相互作用，以及 3）确定从养蜂场内部或远离养蜂场收集的蚂蚁中是否存在六种常见的与蜜蜂相关的病毒。观察到 14 个属的蚂蚁以多种方式与管理良好的蜜蜂群体相互作用，最常见的是从蜂箱内抢夺糖资源。我们从养蜂场采集的 57 个蚂蚁样本中，有 89%（n=57）至少检测到一种病毒，而从非养蜂场采集的 20 个蚂蚁样本中，有 15%（n=20）检测到病毒。我们发现，这些蚂蚁样本均未检测到变形翅膀病毒、黑皇后细胞病毒或以色列急性麻痹病毒的复制。未来研究观察蚂蚁和蜜蜂之间可能的病毒传播，可以确定蚂蚁是否可以被视为与蜜蜂相关病毒的机械传播媒介，从而对传粉媒介健康构成潜在威胁。
