Social immunity in a social insect

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2021-01-26 03:00

New Zealand; International

Boba Jaglicic on Unsplash

Honey bees are able to combat the parasitic Varroa mite through social immunity. This is a collective behavioural defence strategy that involves Varroa-infected brood releasing chemicals than stimulate worker bees to remove the parasitised larvae. The researchers developed a test that may help beekeepers eliminate or manage the pest.

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Organisation/s: University of Otago, National Research Institute for Agriculture Food and Environment, France

Funder: This project was funded by grants provided by INRAE (SPE Department), the University of Otago and a Casdar fund from the French Ministry of Agriculture (Mosar). F.M. was supported by grants from the France–New Zealand Friendship Fund, by the French Ministry of Agriculture and a New Zealand international doctoral research scholarship.

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