Bob Harrison wrote:
> Vj is round and vd is oval.

Bob

Clearly Vj are not 'round' (which I would take to mean circular) but, from
the photographs on the website given by Jim, they are 'rounder' than Vd.
Perhaps the ratio of their dimensions, width and depth, are the significant
factor.  The ventral view also shows significant differences both in the
overall shape of the legs and of the ventral plate ( if that is the right
terminology).

I will look in more detail tomorrow, but the varroa found in S India appear
identical in shape to those here in the UK - and first impressions (which
may prove to be wrong) are that they look much more like the picture of Vj
than Vd.  Incidentally, the pictures of varroa on our own Ministry leaflets
also look more like Vj than Vd to me - I wonder where they originated!

Peter Edwards
[log in to unmask]
www.stratford-upon-avon.freeserve.co.uk/

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