Abstract
The ectoparasite Varroa (Acari: Varroidae) is considered to be the main pest of honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) in Nicaragua. The aim of this study was to determine morphotypes and mitochondrial haplotypes of the Varroa mites, related to infestation levels in A. mellifera hives in Nicaragua in a cross-sectional study (2013–2016). Samples were taken from 34 sentinel apiaries in five geographical zones; from 713 Varroa females collected during the study, 153 were selected for measurement of various morphometric characters for further classification into morphotypes. The mitochondrial haplotype was assigned to one of the two (Korean or Japanese), using the restriction by SacI of the PCR product of a fragment of the gene CO-I. Morphometric measurement and sequencing revealed the affiliation to the species Varroa destructor with a mean (± SD) body width of 1699.1 ± 60.2 µm and a body length of 1161.1 ± 34.9 µm. Body characters were significantly different among the 34 apiaries. Varroa destructor samples were classified into four morphotypes, with no significant differences in the geographical zones. As GAGCTC SacI enzyme cleavage sequences were not observed, all PCR products were identified as V. destructor Korean haplotype. The CO-I gene nucleotide sequences from two samples V. destructor showed both 100% similarity with the Korean haplotype and 99.8% similarity to the Japanese haplotype. Although the V. destructor mite was identified as a Korean haplotype, host-parasite association in 2 decades has led into a balance without entering into severe losses in the Nicaraguan apiculture.
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Data availability
The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
The authors thank the beekeepers for their collaboration in the field work and for the permission to investigate on their beehives and Nicola J. Singh MAAT for her review and comments on the English language.
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The study has been performed in accordance with the standard procedures for the surveillance of emerging diseases in apiaries established by Organismo Internacional Regional de Sanidad Agropecuaria (OIRSA), and was previously approved by the Research Ethics Committee (ECAV, UNAN-León).
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Düttmann, C., Flores, B., Sheleby-Elías, J. et al. Morphotype and haplotype identification of Varroa destructor (Acari: Varroidae), and its importance for apiculture in Nicaragua. Exp Appl Acarol 83, 527–544 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10493-021-00603-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10493-021-00603-9