Environmental Entomology (1986) 15, 207-209

John D. Vandenberg, John J. Hamm and H. Shimanuki (1986)
Vairimorpha sp. spores do not reduce the longevity of caged adult honey bees, Apis mellifera (Hymenoptera: Apidae)
Environmental Entomology 15 (1), 207-209
Abstract: Spores of Vairimorpha sp. isolated from the cotton leafworm, Alabama argillacea (Hübner), and produced in the corn earworm, Heliothis zea (Boddie), were tested for their effect on caged adult honey bees, Apis mellifera L. The bees in each cage were fed 5.0 ml of spores suspended in 50% sucrose (wt/wt) at concentrations of 2.4 x 10⁸ or 6.0 x 10⁸ spores per ml. Survival of the bees over 23 days was recorded. Gut contents, thoracic muscles, and abdominal fat bodies of living and dead bees were examined for presence of protozoans. No significant difference between LT₅₀'s of treated and control bees was observed. There was no evidence of Vairimorpha sp. infection of honey bee tissues. Examination of gut contents revealed protozoan spores in both control and treated bees. Spores within digestive tracts of control bees were probably those of Nosema apis Zander, a common honey bee pathogen. Gut contents of treated bees contained spores that were either N. apis or part of the original Vairimorpha sp. inoculum or both. Vairimorpha sp. spores are not infectioe to adult honey bees under the conditions of this study and should be studied further as a possible biological control agent for certain crop pests.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Database assignments for author(s): John D. Vandenberg

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
biocontrol - natural enemies
Research topic(s) for beneficials or antagonists:
non-target effects/fate in environm.

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Alabama argillacea		Bolivia
Vairimorpha (genus - entomopathogens)	Alabama argillacea		Bolivia