Control

The use of antibiotics is not permitted in Switzerland; moreover, no other medication exists to combat European foul brood. Hives with symptoms must therefore be destroyed in order to limit the outbreak, and the contaminated material must be sanitised. Since prevention is the best cure, early detection is desirable. Numerous studies have been undertaken and documents have been created at the Swiss Bee Research Centre and elsewhere to draw the attention of beekeepers to these problems and inform them about the causes and the control measures to be implemented.

Merkblatt zur erkennung von Bienenbrutkrankheiten (German (PDF, 357 kB, 18.10.2017) and French (PDF, 226 kB, 02.02.2017))
M. Tschumi (2011)

Multiple mating by both sexes in an invasive insect species, Aethina tumida (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae).

Institutional Repository Agroscope

Papach A., Beaurepaire A., Yanez O., Neumann P.

Multiple mating by both sexes in an invasive insect species, Aethina tumida (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae).

Insect Science, 30, (2), 2022, 517-529.

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Abstract:

Multiple mating by both sexes is common among sexually reproducing an-imals. Small hive beetles (SHB),Aethina tumida, are parasites of bee nests endemic tosub-Saharan Africa and have become a widespread invasive species. Despite the consid-erable economic damages they can cause, their basic biology remains poorly understood.Here we show that male and female small hive beetles can mate multiple times, suggest-ing that costs for mating are low in this species. In an invasiveA. tumidapopulation in theUnited States, a combination of laboratory experiments for males and paternity analysiswith eight polymorphic DNA microsatellite markers for field-caught females were usedto estimate the number of mating by both sexes. The data show that females and males canmate multiple times—females mated with up to eight males, whereas males mated with atleast seven females. The results also showed thatA. tumidadisplayed a skewed paternity,although this was not consistent among the tested females. Thus, first or last male advan-tage seem to be unlikely inA. tumida. Our observations that individuals of both sexes ofA. tumidacan mate multiple times opens new research avenues for examining drivers ofmultiple mating and determining the role it may play in promoting biological invasions.

ISSN Print: 1672-9609
ISSN Online: 1744-7917
Digital Object Identifier (DOI): https://doi.org/10.1111/1744-7917.13112
Publication-ID (Web Code): 51687 Sending by e-mail

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Multiple mating by both sexes in an invasive insect species, Aethina tumida (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae).