First Record of Aethina tumida Murray (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae) in Colombia

Abstract

The honey bee, Apis mellifera L. (Hymenoptera: Apidae), has been threatened worldwide by high colony loss rates (Dainat et al. 2012, Lee et al. 2015, Watson & Stallins 2016,Haddad et al. 2017). The losses have been attributed to different factors, such as diseases, pesticide application near apiaries, climate change, beehive management practices, several parasitic mite species [including Varroa destructor Anderson & Trueman (Mesostigmata: Varroidae), Tropilaelaps spp. (Mesostigmata: Laelapidae), and Acarapis woodi Rennie (Trombidiformes: Tarsonemidae)] and insects (such as Aethina tumidaMurray; Coleoptera: Nitidulidae) (Bernadou et al. 2009, Cresswell et al. 2012, Ghosh & Jung 2017, Flores et al. 2019). Despite these colony losses, honey production has increased in recent years due to an increase in colonies number (Piou et al. 2016, Traynor et al. 2016, Xu et al. 2016, Kulhanek et al. 2017, 2021, Castilhos et al. 2019). The small hive beetle, A. tumida, is a parasite of honey bee and other social bee species (Neuman & Elzen 2004). Elzen et al. (1999) reported that A. tumida is attracted to hives with honey and pollen, and its population increases in stressed hives or recently abandoned colonies with immature bees. Aethina tumida is native to sub-Saharan Africa, where it is usually considered a minor pest (Neumann&Ellis 2008). This insect has a cosmopolitan distribution (Figure 1) (Habeck 2002). It has been reported in Africa, Europe, North America, Oceania and South America (Mostafa & Williams 2000, Boncristiani et al. 2020). In this paper, we report for first time the detection of A. tumida in Colombia. The specimens were collected manually on 3 October 2020 (by L. F. Alvarez and D. E. Quintero of Corporación Colombiana de Investigación Agropecuaria) in old honeycomb frames without brood in a honey bee apiary maintained at Palmira Research Center, Valle del Cauca, Palmira, Colombia (1003 m; N3°31′16,597′′, W76°18′25,387′′). The specimens were identified using keys in Habeck (2002), Brown et al. (2013) and OIE (2018) under stereomicroscopes (Stereo Discovery.V12; Carl Zeiss