> the complete change from varroa jacobsonii to v. destructor seems to be
> one of the consequences of the beekeeper's method to cut out infested
> drone combs, so that mites preferring worker brood were able to attain
> majority
Actually, this change has nothing to do with cutting out infesting
combs. It was a result of poor studies on the genus in the
beginning. There are more than one species of mite in the genus
Varroa, all morphologically similar. The original bee parasite
described by Oudemons in the early 20th century was V. jacobsoni,
found on the bee Apis cerana or another Asian honeybee host. The mite
genus was reviewed in 2000, and the species that has spread to the
rest of the world was found to be distinct, based on genetic markers.
V. destructor is the only species of the genus that is able to
reproduce within the hives of the European honeybee, Apis mellifera.
Revisions of nomenclature are common in biology, especially now that
sophisticated tools are available to study DNA patterns. For full
account, refer to this article:
Anderson, D. L., and J. W. H. Trueman. 2000. Varroa jacobsoni (Acari:
Varroidae) is more than one species. Exp. Appl. Acarology 24: 165-189.
A Varroa mite by any name is the same pest.
-JZ
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