Abstract:
Varroa mite, Varroa
destructor, is the most destructive factor to
western honey bee colonies worldwide. In
1904, Varroa was firstly recorded on honey
bees, at the beginning it was hypothesized
that Varroa is one species but recently this
hypothesis has been considered to be
incorrect. In 1983, Varroa mite was
recorded in Egypt for first time. So far, a
single study was done in Egypt to confirm
Varroa species to be V. destructor and not
Varroa jacobsoni as it was previously
thought. Still the exact haplotype of Varroa
in Egypt is unknown. This study is a step
towards the identification of Varroa in
Egypt. Here, morphological investigations
were performed on Varroa specimens
belong to northwest Egypt (El-Behera
governorate). Three characteristics only
showed significant differences among
districts, namely body width, genital shield
width, and genital shield length/ genital
shield width (ratio II), while the rest of
characteristics did not present any
significant differences. The correlations
among the characteristics were very weak,
except body length which correlated
significantly (P<0.05) with body width and
genital shield width by 0.52 and 0.42, in
respect. The study presented additional
confirmation that V. destructor is the current
species infesting honey bee colonies in
Egypt. Also, Varroa haplotype was
identified to be the Korean one. A list of
some morphological traits of Varroa mite
was provided to enable further comparisons.
A morphometry map for Varroa mites was
also done using a geographical information
system (GIS) to correlate between
geographical locations and morphological
characteristics. The morphometry map
clearly classified studied districts, according
to measured characteristics, into three
classes as low, moderate and high. This
study has a significant importance towards
the fully understanding of Varroa
populations in Egypt.
