> On Sep 4, 2015, at 9:51 AM, Floyd Cope <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> 

> Peter can you give some insight to the different sub species of the Varroa mite or point me in the right direction to some solid data on the subject. It could shed some light on why some mite populations rapidly increase in numbers and others are more easily controlled. Or does it really make any difference which sub species?



Only 2 of the 18 Asian varroa HAPLOTYPES that parasitize A. cerana in Asia have switched to the new host. One of these two haplotypes has been successful in colonizing new geographical regions, despite the fact that its genetic variability is low. This haplotype has also subsequently developed strong pesticide resistance, which shows that widespread ecological success does not depend on initial genetic variability. 



One possible reason for this is that diversity might recover quickly after a bottleneck, long before new alleles can arise through mutation. Alternatively, many insects might be well adapted to withstand low genetic diversity; for example, many successful insect parasitoids have low levels of genetic diversity because of brother–sister mating or because of the effects of MICROBE-ASSOCIATED PARTHENOGENESIS



from

Roderick, George K., and Maria Navajas. "Genes in new environments: genetics and evolution in biological control." Nature Reviews Genetics 4.11 (2003): 889-899.





Pete



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