> While feeding on adult bees, dispersing V. destructor feed on the abdominal membranes to access to the fat body as reported previously. However, when V. destructor feed on honey bee pupae during their reproductive stage, they primarily consume hemolymph, indicated by wound analysis, preferential transfer of biostains, and a proteomic comparison between parasite and host tissues.

Han, B., Wu, J., Wei, Q. et al. Life-history stage determines the diet of ectoparasitic mites on their honey bee hosts. Nat Commun 15, 725 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-44915-x

https://rdcu.be/dBD6v

Peer comment: You should better discuss the incompatibility of your results with Ramsey’s et al feeding experiments, which showed that mites need access to fat bodies to better survive and reproduce, while you show they do not have such access.

REPLY: We do not take pride in explicitly criticizing the work of others in public, but the tissue-feeding bioassays of Ramsey et al are marred by very low survival and reproductive rates and our study indeed invalidates some of the previous claims. 

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