Hostname: page-component-7479d7b7d-fwgfc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-11T20:20:24.023Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

PREVALENCE OF SPHAERULARIA BOMBI (NEMATODA: TYLENCHIDA: SPHAERULARIIDAE) IN BUMBLE BEE QUEENS (HYMENOPTERA: APIDAE) ON CAPE BRETON ISLAND, NOVA SCOTIA, CANADA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 May 2012

D.B. McCorquodale ,
R.G. Beresford ,
J.M. Francis ,
C.E. Thomson  and
C.M. Bartlett
D.B. McCorquodale*
Affiliation:
Department of Behavioural and Life Sciences, University College of Cape Breton, Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada B1P 6L2
R.G. Beresford
Affiliation:
Department of Behavioural and Life Sciences, University College of Cape Breton, Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada B1P 6L2
J.M. Francis
Affiliation:
Department of Behavioural and Life Sciences, University College of Cape Breton, Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada B1P 6L2
C.E. Thomson
Affiliation:
Department of Behavioural and Life Sciences, University College of Cape Breton, Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada B1P 6L2
C.M. Bartlett
Affiliation:
Department of Behavioural and Life Sciences, University College of Cape Breton, Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada B1P 6L2
*
1 Author to whom all correspondence should be addressed.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Sphaerularia bombi Dufour is an internal nematode parasite of bumble bee queens in North America and Europe. Infection functionally castrates the bee. Here we document the prevalence and intensity of S. bombi infections in seven species of Bombus and three species of Psithyrus on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada. We found dramatic variation in prevalences among Bombus spp., and some evidence that prevalence increased as the nesting season progressed. Also, we report S. bombi in the bumble bee nest parasite Psithyrus insularis (Smith), the first record for the genus in North America.

Résumé

Le nématode Sphaerularia bombi Dufour est un parasite interne des reines de bourdons en Amérique du Nord et en Europe. L’infection du parasite cause la castration fonctionelle des bourdons. Dans ce manuscrit, nous documentons la fréquence et l’intesité des infections de S. bombi pour sept espèces de Bombus et trois espèces de Psithyrus sur l’Île du Cap Breton, Nouvelle-Écosse, Canada. Nous avons trouvé des variations dramatiques de fréquence parmi les espèces de Bombus et des évidences suggèrent que la fréquence aux infections croît avec la progression de la période de nidification. Également, nous présentons un rapport des infections de S. bombi sur un parasite des nids de bourdons, Psithyrus insularis (Smith), ce qui représente la première mention pour le genre en Amérique du Nord.

Type
Articles
Information
The Canadian Entomologist , Volume 130 , Issue 6 , December 1998 , pp. 877 - 882
Copyright
Copyright © Entomological Society of Canada 1998

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alford, D.V. 1969. Sphaerularia bombi as a parasite of bumble bees in England. Journal of Apiculture Research 8: 49–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bedding, R. 1984. Nematode parasites of Hymenoptera. pp. 755–795in Nickle, W.R. (Ed.), Plant & insect nematodes. Marcel Dekker Company, New York.Google Scholar
Cumber, R.A. 1949. Humble-bee parasites and commensals found within a thirty mile radius of London. Proceedings of the Royal Entomological Society of London Series A General Entomology 24: 119–127.Google Scholar
Fye, R.E. 1966. Sphaerularia bombi Duford (sic) parasitizing Bombus queens in northwestern Ontario. The Canadian Entomologist 98: 88–89.Google Scholar
Goldblatt, J.W., and Fell, R.D.. 1984. Parasites and parasitization rates in bumble bee queens, Bombus spp. (Hymenoptera: Apidae), in southwestern Virginia. Environmental Entomology 13: 1661–1665.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hasselrot, T.B. 1960. Studies on Swedish bumblebees (Genus Bombus Latr.), their domestication and biology. Opuscula Entomologica Supplementum 17: 1–81.Google Scholar
Hattingen, R. 1956. Beitrage zur Biologie von Sphaerularia bombi Leon Dufour (1837). Zentralblatt fur Bakteriologie Parasitenkunde Infektionskrankheiten und Hygiene Abteilung II 109: 236–249.Google Scholar
Laverty, T.M., and Harder, L.D.. 1988. The bumble bees of eastern Canada. The Canadian Entomologist 120: 965–987.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leuckart, R. 1887. Neue Beitrage zur Kenntnis des Baues und der Lebensgeschichte der Nematoden. Abhandlungen der Koeniglich-Saechsischen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften. 22: 567–704.Google Scholar
Lubbock, J. 1861. On Sphaerularia bombi. Natural History Review 1: 44–57.Google Scholar
Lubbock, J. 1864. Notes on Sphaerularia bombi. Natural History Review 4: 265–270.Google Scholar
Lundberg, H., and Svensson, B.G.. 1975. Studies on the behaviour of Bombus Latr. species (Hym., Apidae) parasitized by Sphaerularia bombi Dufour (Nematoda) in an alpine area. Norwegian Journal of Entomology 22: 129–134.Google Scholar
MacFarlane, R.P., and Griffin, R.P.. 1990. New Zealand distribution and seasonal incidence of the nematode, Sphaerularia bombi Dufour, a parasite of bumble bees. New Zealand Journal of Zoology 17: 191–199.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MacFarlane, R.P., and Pengelly, D.H.. 1974. Conopidae and Sarcophagidae (Diptera) as parasites of adult Bombinae (Hymenoptera) in Ontario. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Ontario 105: 55–59.Google Scholar
Madel, G. 1973. Zur Biologie des Hummelparasiten Sphaerularia bombi Dufour 1886 (Nematoda, Tylenchida). Bonner Zoologische Beitraege 24: 134–151.Google Scholar
Madel, G., and Scholtyseck, E.. 1976. Licht- und elektronenoptische Untersuchungen an den Schlauchzellen des Hummelparasiten Sphaerularia bombi (Tylenchida, Nematoda). Zeitschrift fuer Parasitenkunde 49: 81–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Medler, J.T. 1962. Development and absorption of eggs in bumblebees (Hymenoptera: Apidae). The Canadian Entomologist 94: 825–833.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Palm, N-B. 1948. Normal and pathological histology of the ovaries in Bombus Latr. (Hymenopt.) with notes on the hormonal interrelationships between the ovaries and the corpora allata. Opuscula Entomologica Supplementum 7: 1–101.Google Scholar
Poinar, G.O. 1974. The presence of Sphaerularia bombi (Tylenchida: Nematoda), a nematode parasite of Bombus queens (Apidae: Hymenoptera), in California. Pan-Pacific Entomologist 50: 304–305.Google Scholar
Poinar, G.O., and van der Laan, P.A.. 1972. Morphology and life history of Sphaerularia bombi. Nematologica 18: 239–252.Google Scholar
Pouvreau, A. 1962. Contribution a l'étude de Sphaerularia bombi (Nematoda, Tylenchida), parasite des reines de bourdons. Annales de l'Abeille 5: 181–199.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pouvreau, A. 1963. Sur la presence de Sphaerularia bombi (Nematoda, Tylenchida, Allantonematidae) dans le genre Psithyrus (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Psithyrinae). Comptes Rendu de l'Academie des Sciences Paris 256: 282–282.Google Scholar
Pouvreau, A. 1964. Observations d'une infestation precoce des reines de bourdons (Hymenoptera, Apoidea, Bombus), par Sphaerularia bombi (Nematoda, Tylenchida, Allantonematidae). Bulletin de la Societe Zoologique de France 89: 717–719.Google Scholar
Pouvreau, A. 1974. Les enemies des bourdons. II. Organismes affectant les adultes. Apidologie 5: 39–62.Google Scholar
Rohlf, F.J., and Sokal, R.R.. 1995. Statistical tables. 3rd ed. W.H. Freeman, New York.Google Scholar
Roseler, I., and Roseler, P.-F.. 1973. Anderungen im muster der Haemolymphproteine von adulten Koniginnen der Hummelart Bombus terrestris. Journal of Insect Physiology 19: 1741–1752.Google Scholar
Schmid-Hempel, P., Muller, C., Schmid-Hempel, R., and Shykoff, J.A.. 1990. Frequency and ecological correlates of parasitism by conopid flies (Conopidae, Diptera) in populations of bumble bees. Insectes Sociaux 37: 14–30.Google Scholar
Sokal, R.R., and Rohlf, F.J.. 1995. Biometry. 3rd ed. W.H. Freeman, New York.Google Scholar
Stein, V.G., and Lohmar, E.. 1972. Uber die Infektion verschiedener Hummelarten mit Sphaerularia bombi Leon Dufour 1837 im Raum Bonn, Fruhjahr 1970. Decheniana 124: 135–140.Google Scholar