Varroa destructor
Varroa destructor
Taxonomy
- Kingdom Animalia
- Phylum Arthropoda
- Class Arachnida
- Order Mesostigmata
- Family Varroidae
- Genus Varroa
Final host
Honey bees
Morphology
Adults show a distinct sexual dimorphism, the female (≈ 1.5 mm) has a flattened ellipsoidal idiosoma with greater width than length whereas the male body is pear shaped In both sexes the idiosoma comprises one dorsal shield and different ventral shields The legs of the males are longer in relation to the body size than the legs of females The gnathosoma is situated anteroventrally, forming the mouthparts which consist of two sensory pedipalps and two chelicerae
Cycle
The entire life cycle occurs within the bee hive, consisting on a phoretic stage as a parasite on adult bees and a reproductive stage inside the sealed brood cells
Location
Exoskeleton surface
Feeding
Hemolymph
Diagnostic
Adult females
Transmission
Adult females
