Olfaction is a key sensory modality for many arthropods and could be used as a tool in pest management through manipulation of pest behavior. Management of Varroa destructor, important parasitic mites of honey bees, could be improved through better understanding of the chemical ecology of this host-parasite relationship. We refined techniques of mounting mites to obtain electrophysiological recordings (electrotarsograms) of their responses to synthetic odor stimuli. Results of 271 electrotarsogram recordings from V. destructor revealed responses to 10 odorants relative to solvent controls. Electrotarsogram responses to methyl palmitate, ethyl palmitate, and 2-heptanol were highest at the lowest stimulus loading (10 ng) we tested, suggesting that V. destructor may have acute sensitivity to low concentrations of some odors. Results suggest that odorant origin (e.g., methyl oleate from honey bee larvae, geraniol from adult honey bee alarm pheromone, and α-terpineol, a plant secondary metabolite) can influence the degree of electrophysiological response. Varroa destructor tended to be more responsive to known attractants and repellents relative to previously unexplored odorants and some repellent terpenes. Electrotarsograms offer the potential for screening odors to determine their importance in V. destructor host detection.

中文翻译：

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西方蜜蜂（Apis mellifera）的主要寄生虫Varroa破坏物对合成气味的电刺激图响应。

嗅觉是许多节肢动物的关键感觉方式，可通过操纵害虫行为而用作害虫管理工具。管理狄斯瓦，蜜蜂重要的螨虫寄生，可通过改进更好地了解这个宿主-寄生虫关系的化学生态学。我们改进了安装螨的技术，以获得螨对合成气味刺激的电生理记录（电图）。的从271个electrotarsogram录音结果V.析显示反应至10种气味剂相对于溶剂对照。在我们测试的最低刺激负荷（10 ng）下，对棕榈酸甲酯，棕榈酸乙酯和2-庚醇的肌电图响应最高。可能对低浓度的某些气味具有敏锐的敏感性。结果表明，气味来源（例如，来自蜜蜂幼虫的油酸甲酯，来自成年蜜蜂警报信息素的香叶醇和植物次生代谢产物α-松油醇）可以影响电生理反应的程度。相对于以前未开发的气味剂和一些驱避性萜烯，Varroa破坏剂对已知的引诱剂和驱避剂趋向于更敏感。电痕迹图提供了筛查气味的潜力，以确定气味在V.破坏者宿主检测中的重要性。