THE FIRST DOCUMENTED RECORD OF AEROGLYPHUS PEREGRINANS (BERLESE, 1892) (ACARIDIA, AEROGLYPHIDAE) IN THE HIVES OF HONEY BEES (APIS MELLIFERA) IN UKRAINE

Abstract

Studying of mite communities in hives of Apis mellifera Linnaeus, 1758 in Zhytomyr region revealed Aeroglyphus peregrinans (Berlese, 1892) mites. Feeding stages of this species most frequently disperse on large carpenter bees, rarely on bumble bees, or honey bees. This is the first documented finding of A . peregrinans in beehives in Ukraine [2]. The record of A. peregrinans most close to Zhytomyr region was from the nature reserve “Mys Martian”, Crimea. There this species were observed on Xylocopa violacea (Linnaeus, 1758) . The A. peregrinans is a subdominant (by Shitikov’s scale of dominance structure) in the mite complex of acaridia mites of honeybee hives in Zhytomyr region. Most of the specimens are recorded at the north of Zhytomyr region in Ovruch town. It is possible that the mite species can be introduced from the southern regions with bee packages and queen bees. The A. peregrinans mites were able to inhabit bee hives due to the presence of abundant feeding substrate (especially ambrosia, litter and dead bees) and the A. mellifera hives also provide relatively stable conditions (temperature, humidity). Seasonal fluctuations of their numbers in samples are analyzed. The 99 % of mites were found in spring samples, and the remaining 1 % of mites was recorded in autumn samples. This is explained by the difference in sample content; the spring samples are mostly bees which died during winter. That why most of the specimens were found in samples of dead bees. The A. peregrinans mites were absent in samples consisting mostly of ambrosia and litter (honey crystals, wax crumbs) from the hive bottom. According to the published data, previous records and our research dead bees are the main feeding substrate of the studied species in honey bee hives.