Riassunto: The small hive beetle (SHB) is a parasite and scavenger of honey bee colonies. It has recently become an invasive species creating the need for an efficient and reliable detection method. We present a method to screen hive debris for the presence of SHB using real-time PCR in conjunction with an automated DNA extraction protocol. The method was able to detect DNA from SHB eggs, larvae and adult specimens collected from Africa, Australia and North America. The method was used to successfully detect SHB DNA extracted from spiked and naturally infested debris. An Apis mellifera 18S rRNA real-time PCR assay was used as an internal positive control (IPC). The IPC showed that the method was reliable for detection as extraction efficiency was consistent between hive debris samples. If the SHB were to establish at new locations, the availability of such a method would be a valuable support toot to enable species identification and rapid screening of hive debris for delimiting surveys

Keywords: 18S, adult, aethina tumida, AETHINA-TUMIDA, Africa, AMERICA, API, apis, Apis mellifera, APIS-MELLIFERA, article, As, assay, Australia, AVAILABILITY, bee, BEE COLONIES, BEE COLONY, beetle, coleoptera, collected, COLONIES, COLONIES APIS-MELLIFERA, colony, control, debris, detection, DNA, DNA extraction, DNA extraction protocol, EFFICIENCIES, efficiency, EFFICIENT, egg, EGGS, English, extraction, hive, HIVE DEBRIS, HONEY, honey bee, honey bee colonies, honey bee colony, HONEY-BEE, HONEY-BEES, identification, internal, invasive, invasive species, IPC, larvae, LOCATION, mellifera, MELLIFERUM, method, NEED, new, NITIDULIDAE, NORTH AMERICA, NORTH-AMERICA, parasite, PCR, pest, present, PROTOCOL, rapid, real-time PCR, rRNA, SAMPLE, SAMPLES, scavenger, screen, screening, SHB, SMALL, small hive, small hive beetle, species, species identification, SPECIMENS, SUPPORT, survey, surveys, Using,

ISBN:
ISSN: 0044-8435
DOI:

Segnatura: PUB Bienen