ABSTRACT

The western honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) is one of the most important insect species that, unfortunately, is being confronted with multiple biological stressors that threaten their existence. Varroa destructor (Anderson and Trueman) is the most devastating ectoparasitic mite known today. In this review, we offer an up-to-date review of the literature on the use of essential oils (EOs) against V. destructor, particularly the last decade (2010-onwards). We find that 40 aromatic plants were extracted for EOs and screened for their varroacidal activity under laboratory and/or field conditions. Through this review, we urge the scientific community to pay more attention to the following points: 1) the laboratory bioassays should be completed with field trials as they are the ones capable of revealing the true potency of the studied EO, 2) sub-lethal effects of the screened EO on honeybees as non-target organisms as well as their residual activity should also be investigated, and finally 3) more inquiries are required in regard to the mode of action of these substances to reveal their molecular targets in V. destructor.

摘要

西方蜜蜂 ( Apis mellifera L.) 是最重要的昆虫物种之一，不幸的是，它正面临着威胁其生存的多种生物压力源。Varroa destructor（安德森和特鲁曼）是当今已知的最具破坏性的体外寄生螨。在这篇综述中，我们提供了关于使用精油 (EO) 对抗V. destructor的文献的最新综述，尤其是过去十年（2010 年以后）。我们发现在实验室和/或田间条件下提取了 40 种芳香植物的 EO 并筛选了它们的 varroacidal 活性。通过这次审查，我们敦促科学界更多地关注以下几点：1）实验室生物测定应通过现场试验完成，因为它们能够揭示所研究的 EO 的真正效力，2）亚致死性还应研究筛选的 EO 对作为非靶标生物的蜜蜂的影响及其残留活性，最后 3) 需要对这些物质的作用方式进行更多调查，以揭示其在V. destructor 中的分子靶标.