Paravestibular hairs of British Buckfast honey bees do not regulate genetic resistance to Acarapis woodi
Author(s)
Robert G Danka; José D Villa
Abstract
Some honey bees (Apis mellifera) have a genetically based resistance to infestation by the parasitic tracheal mite, Acarapis woodi. Resistant bees interrupt the migratory phase of the mite's life cycle (Danka & Villa, 1996), principally because individual workers effectively groom migrating mites off themselves (Danka & Villa, 1998; Pettis & Pankiw, 1998). Another potential resistance mechanism involves the hairs which surround the exoskeletal depressions, or vestibules, in which the prothoracic spiracles are located. Lee (1963) investigated whether the well known resistance of older bees to tracheal mite infestation is attributable to some aspect of these hairs, for example, to their hardening with age.
