Behavioral responses of the small hive beetle, Aethina tumida, to odors of three meliponine bee species and honey bees, Apis mellifera scutellata

Abstract

Recent studies have shown that honey bees, bumble bees, and some meliponine bee species of the genera Trigona, Meliponula, and Dactylurina are hosts of the small hive beetle (SHB) Aethina tumidaMurray (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae), a pest of honey bee colonies in various regions of the world. Olfaction has been implicated in SHB infestations of honey bee and bumble bee colonies. We used olfactometer bioassays to investigate responses of adult male and female SHBs to odors from intact colonies and separate hive components (pot honey, pot pollen, cerumen, and propolis) of three African meliponine bee species, Meliponula ferruginea (Lepeletier) (black morphospecies), M. ferruginea (reddish brown morphospecies), and Meliponula bocandei (Spinola) (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Although both sexes of the beetle strongly preferred intact colony, pot honey, and pot pollen odors, there was no evidence of attraction to propolis and cerumen odors from the three meliponine bee species. Both sexes of SHB also strongly preferred odors from honey bees, Apis mellifera L. (Hymenoptera: Apidae), over odors from the three meliponine bee species. Our results provide substantial evidence of the host potential of African meliponine bees for the SHB, and we discuss this complex association of the SHB with species within the Apidae family.

Resin Use by Stingless Bees: A Review

“…When certain species sense a threat, defending bees harvest resin and cerumen from deposit-resins and/or other parts of the nest, carrying these materials in their mandibles and corbiculae [11]. They then attack would-be invaders outside the nest (e.g., plastering resin to human hair) [2], or trap and mummify intruders within the nest (e.g., immobilizing parasitic fly pupae, ants, and various types of beetles) [2,13,14,68,69]. Curiously, some stingless bee species also use "resin pellets" to kill virgin queens from their own colonies when these are in excess [70].…”

Characterization of Cold Tolerance of Immature Stages of Small Hive Beetle (SHB) Aethina tumida Murray (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae)

“…The small hive beetle (SHB), Aethina tumida Murray (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae) is an invasive pest of honey bee ( Apis mellifera ), stingless bees and bumble bees throughout the world [ 15 , 16 , 17 ], including South Korea [ 18 ]. Sub-Saharan African countries are the native habitat of SHB, where the species is a conditional pest of honey bee colonies [ 19 , 20 ].…”

Cell lines derived from the small hive beetle, Aethina tumida, express insecticide targets

“…SHB is native to Africa but has spread to Europe, Australasia and North America over recent decades, and SHB invasions into new regions are forecast to increase with impending climate change (Cornelissen et al 2019). Adult SHBs follow olfactory cues that are produced by bees or present in bee products (e.g., wax) to locate bee colonies they invade for egg deposition (Graham et al 2011;Bobadoye et al 2018). Adult SHBs cause minimal colony damage other than potentially vectoring some honey bee viruses such as Deformed wing virus (Eyer et al 2009).…”