"Suppose varroa is sucking  the Glyceryl mono oxalate from the chitin hairs
of the bees as it does with other liquids from the same bee. Solvatation of
the product, Could it be a "slow" reaction because of size of the anion?"


Fernando, this is a question I cannot answer with certainty. However, you raise a good point. Large molecules diffuse more slowly through tissues than small ones.


That said it is not the anion that matters where acid damage is concerned.  It is the hydrogen ion (proton, or cation) that causes the damage. And those move quickly.


Maybe we are all just ASSUMING that formic and oxalic work because they are acids. Maybe, in fact, it's the anion that is effective???

Christina

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