Hi Robin,
You said:
>>That is that the current infestation with VD is, in evolutionary terms, an aberration. Varroa is a parasite and survival rules for parasites include u do not kill your hosts.<<
Why do you consider it to be an aberration?  The natural host is Apis cerana and Varroa destructor has merely infested Apis mellifera colonies as well and we all know that there are few, if any, AM colonies that are able to survive on their own within the present range of Varroa destructor.  This is nothing at all to do with aberrations.

>>I am not sure, but hasn't varroa mutated once already, but in the wrong direction?  V destructor is said to be a different strain to V jacob*** as first found in the east.<<
Why do you talk about mutations, it has nothing to do with it.  It is just that what was previously thought to be one species, Varroa jacobsoni, has now been recognized to be composed of several quite distinct species.  Problems of this kind are called "species complexes" by taxonomists and the first species described is often called a "super-species".  It was just a matter of luck the jacobsoni was described before any of the others.  The differences between the various species involved are often phenotypically very small.  New technology and methods, like mtDNA analysis, allow taxonomists to separate certain populations as new species.  Good examples of "species-complexes" can be found amongst various groups of European Orchids, Cowries and certain groups of African Charaxes.

Whilst the above contains some "taxonomic jargon", it's better if words such as mutation and aberration are not used loosely and if used at all, should be used with their correct meaning in mind.

Best regards
Roger White
Superbee Cyprus.

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