Subject: | |
From: | |
Reply To: | |
Date: | Mon, 27 Nov 2023 14:20:40 -0500 |
Content-Type: | text/plain |
Parts/Attachments: |
|
|
> adaptation of mites to host cues occurs in these experiments.
Sorry to belabor the point but nobody seems to picking up on it. The term "suppressed mite reproduction" implies some sort of action where A causes B to happen to C.
What I am saying is that this may be an example of the brood not being attractive to mites, for other reasons. For example, you have group one where the brood is very attractive and the mites reproduce like crazy. Then you have group two, where the mites fail to reproduce at all (no brood in the hive). Finally, you have group three which falls somewhere in between: brood present but not attractive.
This could be a matter of poor colony condition. Poor nutrition caused by too few bees, too small of a colony, poor conditions, etc. None of this is heritable of course, other than perhaps a trait of forming very small colonies—which could result in reduced mite predation. But again, in the real world one wants the best colonies, which unfortunately are prime targets for mite depredation.
Further, most of the proposed scenarios which develop behaviors which reduce mite reproduction have to do with narrowing the genetic base (most breeding does this) whereas the honey bee has evolved a mating system which maximizes genetic diversity (multiple drone lines). Maximizing diversity can have the effect of swamping rare alleles, so change is very slow in large populations.
PLB
***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html
|
|
|