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Varroa

Specimen image via iDigBio

EntityQ1766457· pop 18· linked from 33 articles

Varroa is a genus of parasitic mesostigmatan mites associated with honey bees, originally placed into its own family, Varroidae, but later revised as a subfamily. The genus was named for Marcus Terentius Varro, a Roman scholar and beekeeper. The condition of a honeybee colony being infested with Varroa mites is called varroosis (also, incorrectly, varroatosis).

Species

GENUS

  1. KingdomAnimalia
  2. PhylumArthropoda
  3. ClassArachnida
  4. OrderMesostigmata
  5. FamilyVarroidae
Observations recorded225,986

via GBIF

Museum specimens

Specimen records
15
With media
1
Family
Varroidae
Collections
MSB, INHS, MZLU, OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY ACAROLOGY LABORATORY, COLUMBUS, OH (OSAL)
Recorded in
United States, India, Sweden

~4 min read

Encyclopedic overview

7 sections
Contents
  • Species
  • History and behavior
  • Varroosis
  • Treatments
  • Resistance
  • References
  • External links

Varroa is a genus of parasitic mesostigmatan mites associated with honey bees, originally placed into its own family, Varroidae, but later revised as a subfamily. The genus was named for Marcus Terentius Varro, a Roman scholar and beekeeper. The condition of a honeybee colony being infested with Varroa mites is called varroosis (also, incorrectly, varroatosis).

Varroa mites, but especially the species Varroa destructor, are recognised as the biggest pest to honeybees worldwide due to their ability to transmit diseases such as deformed wing virus (or DWV) to larval or pupating bees, resulting in death or severe deformity of the pupae.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Varroa” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

Gallery (3)