Reproduction of parasitic mites Varroa destructor in original and new honeybee hosts

The ectoparasitic mite, Varroa destructor, shifted host from the eastern honeybee, Apis cerana, to the western honeybee, Apis mellifera. Whereas the original host survives infestations by this parasite, they are lethal to colonies of its new host. Here, we investigated a population of A. cerana naturally infested by the V. destructor Korea haplotype that gave rise to the globally invasive mite lineage. Our aim was to better characterize traits that allow for the survival of the original host to infestations by this particular mite haplotype. A known major trait of resistance is the lack of mite reproduction on worker brood in A. cerana. We show that this trait is neither due to a lack of host attractiveness nor of reproduction initiation by the parasite. However, successful mite reproduction was prevented by abnormal host development. Adult A. cerana workers recognized this state and removed hosts and parasites, which greatly affected the fitness of the parasite. These results confirm and complete previous observations of brood susceptibility to infestation in other honeybee host populations, provide new insights into the coevolution between hosts and parasites in this system, and may contribute to mitigating the large‐scale colony losses of A. mellifera due to V. destructor. The ectoparasitic mite Varroa destructor shifted host from the eastern honeybee Apis cerana to its western counterpart, Apis mellifera, thus establishing a new host–parasite interaction. We show that the absence of reproduction on worker brood, a major resistance trait of the original host absent in the susceptible new host, is not due to a lack of host attractiveness or mite reproduction, but to the removal of damaged hosts by adult workers. Our results provide new insights into the coevolution between hosts and parasites in this system and may contribute to mitigating the large‐scale colony losses of A. mellifera due to V. destructor.