Abstract

ALATTAL, YEHYA; JAVED ANSARI, MOHAMMAD; AL-GHAMDI, AHMAD  and  SINGLE, AREF. Surveillance and genotyping of Varroa destructor (Acari: Varroidae) parasitizing Apis mellifera jemenitica (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in Saudi Arabia. Rev. Colomb. Entomol. [online]. 2015, vol.41, n.2, pp.180-183. ISSN 0120-0488.

A total of 72 Apis melllifera jemenitica honeybee samples were collected from eight different provinces within Saudi Arabia. Samples consisted of adult worker bees and capped brood cells. All samples were analyzed to estimate Varroa destructor mite infestation levels, and isolated V. destructor mites (n = 90) were subjected to DNA analysis.Results revealed that all colonies sampled in this survey were infested with V. destructor mites. The overall averageinfestation levels were 5.5 ± 4.8% and 13.1 ± 10.6% on adult worker bees and in capped brood cells, respectively.Differences in worker infestation levels were not significant among sampling locations (F = 1.5; P = 0.19); however,infestation levels in capped brood cells were highly significant among locations (F = 5.2; P < 0.001). Moreover, resultsindicated that all V destructor mites from A. m. jemenitica were recognized as a Korean haplotype of V. destructor .These results should assist forthcoming mite management efforts in Saudi Arabia.

Keywords : Varroa mite; Infestation levels; Yemeni honeybee; RFLP; Genotype.

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