> Haplodiploidy and sibling mating in V. destructor greatly increase the
chance of fixation of new mutations

The above is a key point, Bill.  Recessive mutations that may confer
increased fitness will likely be outbred in populations in which brothers
do not mate with sisters.  This is why with Bt corn, they plant a
proportion of plants without the Bt, in order to produce nonresistant pests
to mate with any resistant mutants.

Varroa, by virtue of males that are haploid, who then mate with their
sisters, have a far greater chance of "fixing" mutations conferring, for
example, miticide resistance in any near-clonal bloodline .  In a hive,
various clonal lines of varroa compete against each other, typically cross
mating only once the mite infestation reaches a high enough level that more
than one female enters a cell, thus allowing cross matings.

-- 
>
Randy Oliver
Grass Valley, CA
www.ScientificBeekeeping.com

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