Mites from debris and sealed brood cells of Apis dorsata colonies in Sabah (Borneo) Malaysia, including a new haplotype of Varroa jacobsoni

Gudrun Koeniger; Nikolaus Koeniger; Denis L. Anderson; Chariya Lekprayoon; Salim Tingek

doi:doi:10.1051/apido:2001005

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Volume 33 / No 1 (January-February 2002)

Apidologie, 33 1 (2002) 15-24

Abstract

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Issue		Apidologie Volume 33, Number 1, January-February 2002


Page(s)		15 - 24
DOI		https://doi.org/10.1051/apido:2001005

Apidologie 33 (2002) 15-24
DOI: 10.1051/apido:2001005

Mites from debris and sealed brood cells of Apis dorsata colonies in Sabah (Borneo) Malaysia, including a new haplotype of Varroa jacobsoni

Gudrun Koeniger^a, Nikolaus Koeniger^a, Denis L. Anderson^b, Chariya Lekprayoon^c and Salim Tingek^d

^a Institut für Bienenkunde, Universität Frankfurt, Karl-von-Frisch-Weg 2, 61440 Oberursel, Germany
^b CSIRO Entomology, GPO Box 1700, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
^c Bee Research Unit, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand
^d Agricultural Research Station Tenom, Peti Surat 197, Tenom 89908, Sabah, Malaysia

(Received 12 June 2001; accepted 26 September 2001)

Abstract
In the debris of five Apis dorsata colonies at a single site in Sabah, Borneo we found the mites Tropilaelaps clareae, Tropilaelaps koenigerum, Varroa rindereri, Varroa jacobsoni and Euvarroa wongsirii. Most were T. clareae, but T. koenigerum were also quite common. The V. rindereri specimens belonged to the same haplotype as described previously from A. koschevnikovi from Borneo. However, the V. jacobsoni belonged to a new haplotype, which we named the `Borneo 2 haplotype of V. jacobsoni'. Of the mites detected in the debris, 84% of the T. clareae and 57% of the T. koenigerum were damaged. Inspection of 1673 brood cells of two A. dorsata colonies at the same site resulted in adult T. clareae and T. koenigerum together with their offspring (nymphs). The percentage of infested drone and worker cells did not differ, nor did the number of mites per cell: 6.0 $\pm$ 1.6 in worker brood and 6.1 $\pm$ 1.9 in drone brood (n = 10). We found no Varroa mites in the inspected brood cells, suggesting that the mites do not reproduce in A. dorsata and indicating that interspecific mite transfer occurs between sympatric Apis species in Borneo.

Key words: Apis dorsata / Borneo 2 haplotype of V. jacobsoni / V. rindereri / debris / Tropilaelaps species

Correspondence and reprints: Gudrun Koeniger
e-mail: Gudrun.Koeniger@em.uni-frankfurt.de

© INRA, EDP Sciences, DIB, AGIB 2002