ONTOGENESIS OF THE MITE VARROA JACOBSON/IN WORKER AND DRONE HONEYBEE BROOD CELLS
Author(s)
M. D. IFANTIDIS
Abstract
Ontogenesis of the mite Varroa jacobsoni Oudemans (1904) was observed at 4 h intervals in brood cells of the honeybee Apis mellifera cecropia. Between July and November 1981, in the region of Thessaloniki, 241 worker and 107 drone cells infested with fertile mites were examined in the post-capping period. A macroscopic distinction between the sexes was recorded photographically as early as the first mobile phase of mite ontogenesis. In cells containing either worker or drone brood, egg-laying by the mite began about 60 h after the ll was capped and one egg was laid every 30 min. Normally the offspring included only one male, which developed from an egg laid about 96 h after capping. Ontogenesis lasted 7'5 days in the female Varroa and 5'5 days in the male. The mite can lay at most 7 eggs in a drone cell and 6 in a worker cell.
