A scientific note on rapid host shift of the invasive dusky sap beetle (Carpophilus lugubris) in Italian beehives: new commensal or potential threat for European apiculture? Paolo Audisio, Francesca Marini, Enzo Gatti, Fabrizio Montarsi, Franco Mutinelli, Alessandro Campanaro, Andrew Cline To cite this version: Paolo Audisio, Francesca Marini, Enzo Gatti, Fabrizio Montarsi, Franco Mutinelli, et al.. A scientific note on rapid host shift of the invasive dusky sap beetle (Carpophilus lugubris) in Italian beehives: new commensal or potential threat for European apiculture?. Apidologie, Springer Verlag, 2014, 45 (4), pp.464-466. 10.1007/s13592-013-0260-3. hal-01234739 HAL Id: hal-01234739 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01234739 Submitted on 27 Nov 2015 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. Apidologie (2014) 45:464–466 Scientific note * INRA, DIB and Springer-Verlag France, 2013 DOI: 10.1007/s13592-013-0260-3 A scientific note on rapid host shift of the invasive dusky sap beetle (Carpophilus lugubris) in Italian beehives: new commensal or potential threat for European apiculture? 1 1,2 3 4 4 Paolo AUDISIO , Francesca MARINI , Enzo GATTI , Fabrizio MONTARSI , Franco MUTINELLI , 1 5 Alessandro CAMPANARO , Andrew Richard CLINE 1Department of Biology and Biotechnologies “C. Darwin”, University of Rome “La Sapienza”, Via A. Borelli 50, 00161 Rome, Italy 2Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale Lazio e Toscana, Laboratorio di Parassitologia e Sorveglianza Entomologica, Via Appia Nuova 1411, 00178 Rome, Italy 3MIPAAF-National Forest Service, Ufficio Territoriale per la Biodiversità di Belluno, Via Gregorio XVI 8, 32100 Belluno, Italy 4Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie, NRL for Beekeeping, Viale dell’Università 10, 35020 Legnaro, Padua, Italy 5California Department of Food & Agriculture, Plant Pest Diagnostics Center, 3294 Meadowview Road, Sacramento, CA 95832-1448, USA Received 10 June 2013 – Revised 18 November 2013 – Accepted 26 November 2013 Carpophilus lugubris / Aethina tumida / Apis mellifera / beehives / host shift The dusky sap beetle (DSB) Carpophilus lugubris marked with a serial number and GPS data were Murray 1864 (Coleoptera, Nitidulidae, Carpophilinae) recorded. The specimens were collected by hand and is a Nearctic species, usually associated with fermenting preserved in ethanol (80 or 95 %). Specific identifi- sweet corn (Dowd 2000, 2005), and other rotting cation and sex attribution of adult DSB specimens vegetable matter, but is not known to occur within were performed according to Marini et al. (2013). honeybee colonies in that region (Ellis et al. 2008). Moreover, each marked beehive was checked for the The first known records of DSB in Italy or Europe as a presence or absence of DSB larvae. whole, and also the first record of this species associated Although in Friuli–Venezia Giulia several specimens with beehives has been observed by the authors in April have been recently collected in strawberry and raspberry 2011 (Marini et al. 2013); however, the host substrate via fields (Bernardinelli and Governatori 2013), our data which DSB was introduced to Italy remains unknown. indicate that in Italy DSB is often associated with This scientific note reports new data on the beehives, and is in a phase of spreading in honey bee occurrence of DSB in beehives in Northeastern colonies. Indeed, DSB oviposition and larval develop- Italy, and discusses the implications of this “host ment within beehives has been observed in three shift” to honey bee health. These new reports show localities in NE Italy (Table I). Therefore, beehives are that DSB Italian populations are often associated with not only being utilized as cold season shelters for adults beehives and that they appear to be in dissemination. as noted in our previous paper (Marini et al. 2013), but Occurrence of DSB (April 2011–May 2013) was also as breeding sites. We believe that oviposition and reported in 22 beehives in 6 localities of Veneto and larval development within beehives can be a prerequi- Friuli–Venezia Giulia (Table I). Each beehive was site for a stable ecological niche shift of DSB into bee colonies. However, in NE Italy, adult and larval feeding activity was only reported on the bottom board of Corresponding author: F. Marini, beehives, and direct damage to combs and honey has [email protected] not yet been observed. These feeding patterns could Manuscript editor: Yves Le Conte also result in secondary infections by opportunistic Table I. Localities of occurrence (years 2011–2013) of Carpophilus lugubris in Italy. Region Province Locality Geographic Altitude Date Context Males Females Larvae coordinates (a.s.l.) Veneto Padua Borgoricco 45°32′23.02″N 15 m 10.IV.2011a Beehive VEPD1b 54- 11°59′21.71″E Belluno Vincheto di 46°00′35.76″N 230 m 23.V.2012a Wall 1 0 - Rapid host shift of the invasive dusky sap beetle in Italian beehives Celarda 11°58′18.46″E 46°01′33.81″N 247 m 23.V.2013 Beehives VEBL1/2 53 69 43 11°59′21.20″E Varroa destructor present Pez di 46°03′30.17″N 300 m 26.IV.2013 Beehive VEBL3 7 18 - Cesiomaggiore 11°59′21.20″E Treviso Ciano del 45°49′14.88″N 207 m 27.V.2013 Beehives VETV1/16 181 175 1056 Montello 12°04′13.67″E Varroa destructor present Friuli Pordenone Spilimbergo 46°06′41″N 132 m 9.V.2013 Beehive FVGPN1c Several Several Several Venezia-Giulia 12°54′06″E observed observed observed Udine Rivignano 45°53′24″N 13 m 22.IV.2013 Beehive FVGUD1 2 3 - 13°03′57″E a Marini et al. (2013) b Beehive belonging to the Italian national monitoring project BeeNet (http://www.reterurale.it) c Beehive belonging to the EU voluntary surveillance program on honey bee colony losses (http://ec.europa.eu/food/animal/liveanimals/bees/bee_health_en.htm) 465 466 P. Audisio et al. bacteria and yeast thriving on the decaying matter Note scientifique sur le rapide changement d’hôte du present on the bottom board. Beehives where the nitidule invasif Carpophilus lugubris pour les ruches bottom board has been thoroughly cleaned after the italiennes: nouveau commensal ou menace potentielle ’ cold season do not harbor DSB adults and larvae. pour l apiculture européenne? Therefore, proper hive hygiene could be one method to Eine wissenschaftliche Notiz zum raschen successfully avoid DSB invasions. Wirtswechsel des invasiven dunklen Saftkäfers Carpophilus is only distantly related (different (Carpophilus lugubris) in italienischen Bienenvölkern: subfamilies) to the most relevant sap beetle associat- ein neuer Kommensale oder eine Bedrohung für die ed with beehives, the small hive beetle (SHB) europäische Imkerei? Aethina tumida Murray, 1867 (Nitidulidae, Nitidulinae). This species is recognized as one of the most serious pests of European-derived honey REFERENCES bees in North America and Australia (Cuthbertson et al. 2013 and references therein). SHB was originally regarded as a harmless commensal of wild or Bartelt, R.J., Dowd, P.F., Plattner, R.D. (1991) Aggregation domesticated African strains of honey bees in sub- pheromone of Carpophilus lugubris: new pest management tools for the nitidulid beetles. ACS Symposium series - Saharan Africa. 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