Apidologie 22 (1991) 37-42
DOI: 10.1051/apido:19910105

Étude immuno-chimique de l'hémolymphe d'abeille ouvrière adulte (Apis mellifera L) saine ou infestée par Varroa jacobsoni Oud

J.P. Dandeu^a, M. Lux^a, M.E. Colin^b, J. Rabillon^a and B. David<sup>a

a</sup>  Institut Pasteur, Laboratoire d'immuno-chimie des acariens et des venins d'hyménoptères, unité d'immuno-allergie, 28 rue du Dr Roux, 75724 Paris Cedex 15, France
^b  INRA, station de zoologie et d'apidologie, domaine Saint-Paul-Cantarel, route de Marseille, BP 91, 84140 Montfavet, France

Abstract - Immunochemical study of hemolymphs from healthy and Varroa jacobsoni Oud, infested adult worker-bees (Apis mellifera L)
Varroa jacobsoni Oud, an ectoparasite of the honey bee Apis mellifera L essentially feeds by sucking hemolymph through the cuticle of adult insect or larvae. Antigenic composition of hemolymph may be quantitatively or qualitatively modified either through an enzymatic process or as a direct result of the puncture. We show here that specific antigenic markers, which do not come from the mite itself, appear even after early infestation of the hive. This was determined using immunochemical methods such as crossed immunoelectrophoresis and crossed line immunoelectrophoresis where rabbit IgG antibodies raised against hemolymph, either healthy or infested, were involved in homologous or heterologous reactions. Several antigens were defined and are currently under study. We have not yet been able to determine whether these markers result from a specific reaction to Varroa jacobsoni infestation or only from the traumatism due to the bite of this mite.

Key words: Varroa jacobsoni / Apis mellifera / hemolymph immunochemistry / crossed-line immunoelectrophoresis