Peter said:
However, the ventral views of the UK mites look like much more like
destructor, although I am not so sure about that from Kerala.
Opinions welcomed!

I believe they are all varroa destructor. I base  my opinion on the varroa I
have been looking at under a microscope in the U.S. for over a decade which
are all said to be varroa destructor and  looking  now at the original
pictures of varroa j. from the Varroa handbook.
The pictures of varroa j. in the varroa handbook were   from the  initial id
of varroa j. in Asia. There  are 26 varroa shown in the book in both ventral
and dorsal  views. I can *in my opinion* see a definite difference in the
shape of those  varroa pictures of the real varroa j. and    the  varroa d.
which is in the U.S. (which we originally thought were varroa j.) but stand
to be corrected if an expert comes on saying differently.
Sincerely,
Bob Harrison

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