Locustacarus buchneri is a parasitic mite that lives in the respiratory air sacs of bumblebees.[2] They are relatively host-specific and are found primarily in the subgenus Bombus sensu stricto. Bees infested with the mite have a reduced lifespan in laboratory conditions,[3] and although in one study they foraged at a rate similar to uninfected bees, infected bees showed a greater preference for a single flower type.[4] Prevalence varies, but infection appears to be more common among commercial colonies than wild populations. Among colonies commercially imported from the Netherlands and Belgium to Japan, infestation rates were 20%.[5] In South America, prevalence is very low in native populations.[6] In Canada, there was evidence that commercial bumblebee populations were spreading L. buchneri to wild populations.[7]
References[edit]
^Robert W. Husband & Kazuyoshi Kurosa (2000). "Two new genera and a new species of mites (Acari: Podapolipidae) associated with weevils (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) in Argentina". International Journal of Acarology. 26 (3): 247–255. doi:10.1080/01647950008684196.
^Otterstatter, Michael C.; Gegear, Robert J.; Colla, Sheila R.; Thomson, James D. (2005-08-01). "Effects of parasitic mites and protozoa on the flower constancy and foraging rate of bumble bees". Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. 58 (4): 383–389. doi:10.1007/s00265-005-0945-3. ISSN 0340-5443.
^Plischuk, Santiago; Pocco, Martina E.; Lange, Carlos E. (2013). "The tracheal mite Locustacarus buchneri in South American native bumble bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae)". Parasitology International. 62 (6): 505–507. doi:10.1016/j.parint.2013.07.006. hdl:11336/10238. PMID 23872435.
^Colla, Sheila R.; Otterstatter, Michael C.; Gegear, Robert J.; Thomson, James D. (2006-05-01). "Plight of the bumble bee: Pathogen spillover from commercial to wild populations". Biological Conservation. 129 (4): 461–467. doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2005.11.013.