Small hive beetle, Aethina tumida (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae): chemical profile of the cuticle and possible chemical mimicry in a honeybee (Apis mellifera) pest

Abstract

The small hive beetle, Aethina tumida (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae), is an economically important pest of the Western honeybee, Apis mellifera (Hymenoptera: Apidae). We investigated the effect of rearing environment on the cuticular chemical profile of adult A. tumida, using hexane to extract the hydrocarbons and other compounds from the cuticles of beetles. Beetles were collected from A. mellifera colonies in Australia as well as reared in single sex laboratory cultures on different diets. We investigated whether rearing environment (laboratory vs. field, different apiaries, access to mating partners, diet) had any effect on cuticular hydrocarbons. Coupled gas chromatography–mass spectrometry analyses of the extracts showed that rearing environment had significant qualitative and quantitative effects on the hydrocarbons detected. The data support the hypothesis that cuticular profiles of A. tumida are contingent on environment, partitioning on the basis of rearing diet and source hives. The finding has implications for the regulation of interactions between A. tumida and honeybees and improvements in targeting of management strategies.

A Hitchhiker’s Ride: The Honey Bee Louse Braula Coeca (Diptera: Braulidae) Selects its Host by Eavesdropping

“…It was also found that methyl esters, ethyl palmitates and methyl linolenate extracted from cuticles of drone (Le Conte et al 1989 ) and worker larva of A. m. linguistica (Trouiller et al 1991 ) serve as pheromones and kairomones responsible for attracting the parasitic Varroa mite to the brood. The small hive beetle Aethina tumida also have the ability to detect pheromone odors from honey bees (Torto et al 2005 ) and uses chemical mimicry through cuticular hydrocarbons to masks itself in the hive (Amos et al 2022 ) and receive protein rich food from workers (Langlands et al 2021 ). In contrast, B. coeca did not show preferences for cuticular hydrocarbons but possessed the same CHC profiles, indicating that it does not use these cues for host detection, rather for camouflage within the hive (Martin and Bayfield 2014 ).…”

Small hive beetle (Aethina tumida) threat on the horizon

“…Disease-free certificates for the sale of bee packages are issued based on a thorough inspection of bee colonies. Conduct a visual inspection of the entire bee colony to detect Aethina tumida (larvae, beetles, traces of damage) (Amos et al, 2022).…”