biology

Varroa

Varroa is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Varroa rather than just read about it. In short: Varroa is a genus of parasitic mesostigmatan mites associated with honey bees, originally placed into its own family, Varroidae, but later revised as a subfamily. The genus was named for Marcus Terentius Varro, a Roman scholar and beekeeper.

Key takeaways

Varroa belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Varroa to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Varroa from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Varroa is a genus of parasitic mesostigmatan mites associated with honey bees, originally placed into its own family, Varroidae, but later revised as a subfamily. The genus was named for Marcus Terentius Varro, a Roman scholar and beekeeper. The condition of a honeybee colony being infested with Varroa mites is called varroosis (also, incorrectly, varroatosis). Varroa mites, but especially the species Varroa destructor, are recognised as the biggest pest to honeybees worldwide due to their ability to transmit diseases such as deformed wing virus (or DWV) to larval or pupating bees, resulting in death or severe deformity of the pupae.

Species The genus Varroa contains four species:

Varroa destructor Anderson & Trueman, 2000 – a virulent parasite that infests its natural host, Apis cerana (Asian honey bees), in mainland Asia and Apis mellifera (western honey bee) worldwide. Varroa jacobsoni Oudemans, 1904 – a relatively benign parasite of Apis cerana. Varroa rindereri de Guzman & Delfinado-Baker, 1996 Varroa underwoodi Delfinado-Baker and Aggarwal, 1987

History and behavior Varroa mites feed off the fat body tissue of adult, pupal, and larval honey bees, and may carry viruses that are particularly damaging to the bees (e.g., deformed wings, and IAPV), and accordingly they have been implicated in colony collapse disorder. Research has indicated that alone, neither Varroa mites nor deformed wing virus is particularly deadly, yet together they can pose a great risk to colonies. Varroa mites were first discovered in Java in about 1904, but are now present in all honey bee populations worldwide, with a few minor exceptions. They were discovered in the United States in 1987, in New Zealand in 2000, and in the United Kingdom in 1992. They are said to be absent in few isolated regions of the United Kingdom such as Isle of Man and Isle of Colonsay. Because of the lack of Varroa in Isle of Man, the EU made a decision (in Feb. 2015) which allowed the Isle of Man to block the importation of all bee-related supplies. Australia was said to be free of Varroa until a routine inspection at the Port of Newcastle on 22 June 2022 detected an infestation. Eradication is unlikely because no other introduction elsewhere in the world has been eradicated. On 9 November 2023, ABC News reported that researchers have predicted the extinction of feral bees in Australia within three years because of the spreading Varroa mite infestation.

Varroosis The infestation and subsequent parasitic disease caused by mites in the genus Varroa is called varroosis. Sometimes, the incorrect names varroatosis or varroasis are used. A parasitic disease name must be formed from the taxonomic name of the parasite and the suffix -osis as provided in the Standardised Nomenclature by the World Association for the Advancement of Veterinary Parasitology. For example, the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) uses the name varroosis in the OIE Terrestrial Manual.

Treatments The chemical treatment of Varroa mites in common beehives typically uses an alcohol wash which causes significant consequential damage to the honey bee population or the use of organic acids such as oxalic acid which is harmful to the mite but not the honey bee. Best results are obtained during periods of low or no brooding given the difficulty of applying medication to the brood and is often dispersed through a small vaporiser to distribute the acid within the hive. Commercial treatments such as Apistan and Apivar are commonly used as well.

Resistance Some honey bee strains have been bred to be resistant to Varroa, through Varroa sensitive hygiene (VSH) behavior, enabling them to detect reproducing varroa mites and diseased pupae within capped cells, which are then uncapped and the pupae removed. Bee-breeding efforts to develop resistance against Varroa are ongoing. The USDA has developed a line of bees that uses Varroa-sensitive hygiene to remove reproductive mites. This line is now being distributed to beekeepers to be used as part of their integrated pest management programs.

References

External links Media related to Varroa at Wikimedia Commons

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Varroa

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Varroa claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Varroa before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Varroa ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Varroa

In research: Varroa appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Varroa in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Varroa is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Beekeeping, Mesostigmata, Mite genera, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Varroa outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Varroa in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Varroa means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Varroa out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Varroa in simple terms?

Why does Varroa matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Varroa?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Varroa.