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The effect of DEET on chemosensing of the honey bee and its parasite Varroa destructor

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Abstract

Varroa destructor Anderson and Trueman (Acari: Varroidae) is an obligatory ectoparasitic mite of honey bees. In view of limited success in mite control, the use of synthetic repellent was evaluated. The objective of the present study was to investigate the effect of common arthropod repellent N,N-diethyl-m-toluamide (DEET) on the chemosensing of the V. destructor and its hosts, the European honey bee (Apis mellifera L.), by electrophysiological and behavioural bioassays. In electrophysiological assays, the nurse headspace served as a positive stimulus for the V. destructor foreleg, whereas a queen headspace was used as a positive stimulus for honey bee antennae. Two effects of DEET on V. destructor host chemosensing were evaluated: short-term inhibition and long-term inhibition. The inhibition observed in the presence of DEET simultaneously with a positive stimulus was termed “short term inhibition”, while inhibition that occurred following the administration of the compound alone was termed “long term inhibition”. In V. destructor, DEET served as a long-term inhibitor to the response of the chemosensory organ to nurse bee headspace volatiles, whereas in honey bee, it caused short-term inhibition of antenna response to queen volatiles. Consistent with electrophysiological studies, DEET significantly inhibited host choice of mites, whereas even a 10 times higher dose did not alter honey bee behaviours (e.g. antennating, grooming, fanning etc.) or worker attraction to a queen. These data suggest that DEET may selectively disrupt the honey bee chemosensing of V. destructor.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Miss Yafit Brenner for providing us with dedicated program for behavioural analysis and Dr. Ada Rafaeli (Agricultural Research Organization, The Volcani Center) for stimulating discussions during manuscript preparation. We also wish to thank the anonymous reviewers for the valuable comments and suggestions. This project was supported by the Jewish Charitable Association, grant no 131-1740, and subsequently by grant from the Chief Scientist Ministry of Agriculture, grant no. 131-1815. We are also thankful to the Agricultural Research Organization, The Volcani Center, Bet Dagan, Israel for providing postdoctoral fellowship to Dr. Nitin Kumar Singh.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Zrifin Apiary, Department of Entomology, Agricultural Research Organization; The Volcani Center, Institute of Plant Protection, Bet Dagan, Israel

    Nitin Kumar Singh, Nurit Eliash, Yosef Kamer, Ilya Zaidman & Victoria Soroker

  2. Institute of Agroecology and Plant Health, Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot, Israel

    Nurit Eliash

  3. Department of Chemistry, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, V5A 1S6, Canada

    Erika Plettner

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  1. Nitin Kumar Singh
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  2. Nurit Eliash
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  3. Yosef Kamer
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  4. Ilya Zaidman
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  5. Erika Plettner
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  6. Victoria Soroker
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Victoria Soroker.

Additional information

Effet du DEET sur la sensibilité chimique de l'abeille et de son parasite Varroa destructor

N,N-diéthyl-m-toulamide / Apis mellifera ligustica / électroantennogramme / essai biologique comportement / inhibition à court terme / inhibition à long terme

Der Effekt von DEET auf die Chemosensorik von Honigbienen und ihrem Parasiten Varroa destructor

N,N-Diethyl-m-Toulamid / Apis mellifera ligustica / Elektroantennogramm / Verhaltensbiotest / Kurzzeit-Inhibition / Langzeit-Inhibition

Manuscript editor: Peter Rosenkranz

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Singh, N.K., Eliash, N., Kamer, Y. et al. The effect of DEET on chemosensing of the honey bee and its parasite Varroa destructor . Apidologie 46, 380–391 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13592-014-0330-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13592-014-0330-1

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