Annu. Rev. Entomol. 2000. 45:519±548 Copyright q 2000 by Annual Reviews. All rights reserved. PARASITIC MITES OF HONEY BEES: Life History, Implications, and Impact Diana Sammataro1, Uri Gerson2, and Glen Needham3 1Department of Entomology, The Pennsylvania State University, 501 Agricultural Sciences and Industries Building, University Park, PA 16802; e-mail:
[email protected] 2Department of Entomology, Faculty of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Quality Sciences, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot 76100, Israel; e-mail:
[email protected] 3Acarology Laboratory, Department of Entomology, 484 W. 12th Ave., The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210; e-mail:
[email protected] Key Words bee mites, Acarapis, Varroa, Tropilaelaps, Apis mellifera Abstract The hive of the honey bee is a suitable habitat for diverse mites (Acari), including nonparasitic, omnivorous, and pollen-feeding species, and para- sites. The biology and damage of the three main pest species Acarapis woodi, Varroa jacobsoni, and Tropilaelaps clareae is reviewed, along with detection and control methods. The hypothesis that Acarapis woodi is a recently evolved species is rejected. Mite-associated bee pathologies (mostly viral) also cause increasing losses to apiaries. Future studies on bee mites are beset by three main problems: (a) The recent discovery of several new honey bee species and new bee-parasitizing mite species (along with the probability that several species are masquerading under the name Varroa jacob- soni) may bring about new bee-mite associations and increase damage to beekeeping; (b) methods for studying bee pathologies caused by viruses are still largely lacking; (c) few bee- and consumer-friendly methods for controlling bee mites in large apiaries are available.