Environmental Microbiology Reports (2009) 1, 131-135

Santiago Plischuk, Raquel Martín-Hernández, Lourdes Prieto, Mariano Lucía, Cristina Botías, Aránzazu Meana, Alberto H. Abrahamovich, Carlos Lange and Mariano Higes (2009)
South American native bumblebees (Hymenoptera: Apidae) infected by Nosema ceranae (Microsporidia), an emerging pathogen of honeybees (Apis mellifera)
Environmental Microbiology Reports 1 (2), 131-135
Abstract: As pollination is a critical process in both human-managed and natural terrestrial ecosystems, pollinators provide essential services to both nature and humans. Pollination is mainly due to the action of different insects, such as the bumblebee and the honeybee. These important ecological and economic roles have led to widespread concern over the recent decline in pollinator populations that has been detected in many regions of the world. While this decline has been attributed in some cases to changes in the use of agricultural land, the effects of parasites could play a significant role in the reduction of these populations. For the first time, we describe here the presence of Nosema ceranae, an emerging honeybee pathogen, in three species of Argentine native bumblebees. A total of 455 bumblebees belonging to six species of genus Bombus were examined. PCR results showed that three of the species are positive to N. ceranae (Bombus atratus, Bombus morio and Bombus bellicosus). We discuss the appearance of this pathogen in the context of the population decline of this pollinators.
(The abstract has been supplied by the author or ISPI and is excluded from the Creative Commons licence.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Mariano Higes, Carlos E. Lange, Raquel Martin-Hernandez

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
general biology - morphology - evolution

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Vairimorpha ceranae		Argentina