02599nam a2200289 a 450000100080000000500110000800800410001902400390006010000190009924001360011824501350025426000670038950000950045652015760055165000110212765000150213865000110215365300260216465300100219065300150220065300140221565300140222970000180224370000150226170000170227670000160229310561062019-10-23       2015    bl uuuu     u0uu1 u    #d7 a10.1080/00218839.2016.11590552DOI1 aINVERNIZZI, C.  aEvaluación a varios niveles del comportamiento de limpieza contra Varroa destructor en abejas de la miel africanizadas e italianas  aMultilevel assessment of grooming behavior against Varroa destructor in Italian and Africanized honey bees.h[electronic resource]  aJournal of Apicultural Research, 2015, v.54 (4): 321-327c2015  aArticle history: Received 09 Jul 2013; Accepted 15 Jun 2014; Published online: 11 May 2016  aABSTRACT. The ectoparasitic mite Varroa destructor is one of the main plagues of honey bees Apis mellifera. Grooming behavior is a resistance mechanism through which parasitized bees can dislodge mites by themselves (autogrooming) or by the action of other bees (allogrooming). The objective of this study was to evaluate grooming behavior in Italian (A. m. ligustica) and Africanized (hybrids of A. m. scutellata) bees at the individual, group, and colony levels. Firstly, five behaviors were recorded observing bees individually placed on a Petri dish and after placing a mite on their thorax. Secondly, 30 bees of each colony were placed in a Petri dish along with 20 mites and 24 h later fallen mites were counted. Lastly, the proportion of injured mites collected in the hive floor was determined. At the individual level, Africanized bees showed a higher total number of reaction behaviors to V. destructor than did Italian bees (U = 182.5; p = 0.02). Groups of Italian bees could dislodge 60.8 ± 20.0% of mites and Africanized bees dislodged 65.9 ± 15.6% of mites, without showing significant differences (t = 0.735; p = 0.47). Colonies of Africanized bees showed a higher proportion of injured mites (29.0 ± 8.6%) than colonies of Italian bees did (17.7 ± 9.8%) (t = 2.92; p = 0.009). Africanized bees are characterized by presenting higher resistance to V. destructor than European bees. This study shows that such difference can be, partly due to grooming behavior. The importance of auto and allogrooming regarding resistance to V. destructor is discussed.  aABEJAS  aAPICULTURA  aVARROA  aHONEY BEES SUBSPECIES  aMITES  aRESISTANCE  aSELECTION  aVARROOSIS1 aZEFFERINO, I.1 aSANTOS, E.1 aSÁNCHEZ, L.1 aMENDOZA, Y.