Peter Edwards wrote:
> Timothy wrote:
>> I don't think this is necessarily true, because if you get *two* 
>> Varroa mites entering a single cell, then the male offspring of each 
>> one can mate with the female offspring of the other...
>
> This is irrelevant in a clonal animal as the *two* mites will carry 
> the same genes.
>

Isn't that assuming that all of the mites in the colony do, in fact, 
carry the same genes?  This might be true if the colony had recently 
been infested by a single mite (or a group of sisters) and there had 
been no time for mutations to accumulate.  But, as I understand it there 
is regular interchange of mites between colonies as bees drift from one 
to another, and so genetic lines from anywhere in the apiary can get 
into any one of the colonies.  Also, as time passes there will be new 
mutations arising, so even if an entire apiary started out with mites 
that were all perfect clones of each other, after a couple of years 
there would be some non-trivial variations.

Just to be clear, I am not saying that there is a lot of genetic 
variation, and I agree that, most of the time, mite reproduction is a 
lot like cloning because it is mostly brother/sister mating.  All I am 
saying is that, when a genetic difference due to mutation does arise in 
one line, there are some opportunities for that mutation to be spread to 
other lines, and so mite reproduction is not pure cloning.  Any 
discussion of mite adaptations should therefore take this into account.

-- 
Tim Eisele
[log in to unmask]

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