Impact of environmental factors on Apis dorsata (giant Asian honeybee) venom in Bandarawela, Sri Lanka

Apis dorsata stings are amongst the most frequent insect-stings in Sri Lanka. A. dorsata venom consists of a mixture of components including PLA2, melittin, hyaluronidase and apamin. However, there are no studies done in Sri Lanka to evaluate the environmental influence in venom production. We, herein, tried to correlate the variations in those four venom components of A. dorsata with environmental factors (temperature, rainfall, wind speed and relative humidity). The venom components were analyzed using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and variations in environmental factors were gathered from the Department of Meteorology, Sri Lanka. Of the four components, PLA2 (r = 0.718; p = 0.009 and r = 0.636; p = 0.026) and melittin r = 0.734; p = 0.007 and r = 0.582; p = 0.047) showed significant correlations with temperature and wind speed, respectively. Whilst relative humidity showed significant negative correlations with PLA2 (r = - 0.634; p = 0.027) and melittin (r = −0.643; p = 0.024). There was no significant correlation of climatic parameters with hyaluronidase or apamin. The results indicated a variation in the composition of venom components with the month in which the venom was collected due to climatic influence and it should be considered when therapeutic grade venom preparations are produced. [Display omitted] •Apis dorsata stings are amongst the most frequent insect-stings in Sri Lanka.•Increased production of melittin and PLA2 has been observed in July and August.•A correlation between environmental factors and the production of melittin and PLA2 is observed.•The environmental variation in venom components has to be considered when therapeutics-grade venom preparations are produced.