Reproduction and transmission within a colony of bumblebee tracheal mite Locustacarus buchneri (Acari: Podapolipidae) in Bombus terrestris (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

Abstract

The endoparasitic mite Locustacarus buchneri Stammer has been found in commercial bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) and in Japanese native bumblebees. In an infested colony of B. terrestris reared in the laboratory, the mites moved from adult bees to 3rd or 4th instar larvae, where they waited for bees' pupation. We dissected the bee workers that emerged, and counted the numbers of eggs, mobile forms (larviform females and males), and adult females of the mite in the tracheae of the bees. Our results allowed us to roughly estimate that the developmental period from egg to mobile phase of the mites was about 2 weeks (4 weeks after bee emergence). We also revealed that the number of mites in the bee could be positively associated with the bee's age after emergence.