LE3 .A278 2019

2019

Shutler, Dave
Hillier, Kirk
Cutler, Christopher

Acadia University

Master of Science

Masters

Biology

Biology

Honey bees (Apis melliferaL.) are the most agriculturally beneficial eusocial insects for crop pollination. Chemical communication is critical in maintaining colony structure and activity, which may be exploited by parasites. Varroa destructor (Anderson and Trueman; Acari: Varroidae) is regarded as one of the biggest threats to apiculture, blamed for annual colony mortalities of over 30% in some regions. The objectives of this thesis were to identify odorants important to V. destructor for further development of techniques to disrupt its lifecycles through in-colony treatment. Honey bee colony volatile collections involving ex-situ techniques were used to identify individual compounds and odor detection sensitivity of V. destructorto these compounds through gaschromatography-mass spectrometry and gas chromatography-linked electrotarsal detection, respectively. Volatile components identified in this and previous research were then tested for concentration-dependent responses using electrophysiology. Electrotarsogram responsesindicated significant difference among odorants in eliciting responses, suggesting the potential application of this procedure in screening putative repellents or odors that disrupt host detection (disruptants) to live V. destructor. Results from this research can be applied o colony-wide testing of active odorants in developing effective alternative methods for V. destructor control as well as developing methods for future research exploring chemical ecology of social insects.

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https://scholar.acadiau.ca/islandora/object/theses:3210