32 



TB fi AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Parasites of the Honey Bee. 



BY DK. E. ASSMTJSZ, OP LETPSIG. 



The term parasite, in its proper sense, is un- 

 derstood to embrace everylivingbejng (animal 

 or vegetable) wliicli is found on or in any other 

 living being and deriving sustenance therefrom 

 by appropriating or absorbing its juices. 



The expression, parasites of the hone}'- bee, 

 will accordingly include all those creatures and 

 plants which are found on or in living bees or 

 their larva, and derive their nourishment from 

 them. This will of course include the Braula 

 c<£ca, which lives on the bee and absorbs its 

 juices, as well as the 3Iermis albicans, which 

 infests the interior of the body and subsists on 

 the fatty substance. But it would not embrace 

 the larva of the Meloe, which simply uses the 

 body of the bee as a medium whereby to obtain 

 entrance into the hive, and having attained its 

 object, forsakes the bee and sustains itself at 

 first by devouring the unhatched eggs in the 

 cells, and subsequently lives on the pollen or 

 bee-bread stored up in the combs. This mode 

 of living cannot, strictly speaking, be called 

 parasitical, as the larva of this insect manifests 

 itself in the hive as a depredator, first by de- 

 vouring the eggs, and subsequently subsists on 

 some of the accumulated stores of the bee. In 

 the later stage of its existence, therefore, it is 

 rather a sponger than a parasite. 



In like manner, the larvaj of the THclwdes 

 are not to be deemed parasitesin the strict sense 

 of the term, but as despoilcrs rather, making 

 the bee-brood their prey. If tlie lai'vfe of the 

 bee lived, not in the cells of the combs, but in 

 the open air, they would unquestionably be pur- 

 sued by the larva? of the Triehndes, just as those 

 of the Colosoma inquisitor or Golosoma si/co- 

 phanta pursue and destroy caterpillars on the 

 ground and on trees. But if the larvfe of the 

 Tricliodcs arc to be classed among parasites, as 

 is sometimes done, we should in like manner 

 have to rank as parasites both the Colosomc&^i\(X 

 the larva? of the Carabicides in general, and 

 even the perfect insects likewise. This would 

 necessarily extend the term "parasite" so as to 

 embrace the greater number of animals. Thus 

 we should, by analogy, be warranted in consid- 

 ering the lion, the otter, etc., and in brief all 

 carnivorous and insectivorus animals as animal 

 parasites; and as plant parasites, all such as sub- 

 sist on vegetables. But no one has yet ventured 

 to call these parasites. 



When I thus class the larvre of Triclwdes and 

 Meloe among parasites, I do so partly because 

 distinguished zoologists regard them as such, 

 and partly because they condition the diagnosis 

 of several diseases of the bees, which is one 

 of the chief ends of this essay to describe. 



Parasites are subdivided into Ecto-parasites, 

 which live on the surface of plants and the ex- 

 terior of animals, and Endo-parasites, which 

 arc found in the interior of the one and in the 

 viscera of the other. They are furthermore 

 distinguished as transitory, that is, such as only 

 occasionally iilHict their victims, as fleas, flies, 

 mosquitoes, itc; and as permanent, that is, such 



as are constantly present during a longer or a 

 shorter period, or even during life. The latter 

 are again divided into constant or periodical, ac- 

 cording as they are found on or in their vic- 

 tims at all times during life, or only at particu- 

 lar times or seasons, till they have attained sex- 

 ual maturity or have undergone one or more 

 metamorphoses. 



The number of animal parasites which infest 

 the honey bee is not large, as compared with 

 those which infest other species, such as the 

 humble bee, &c. Exclusive of the larvfc of 

 Trichodes and Meloe, there remain only four 

 genera with one species, namely, Phora rnssata, 

 Braula cceca, Gordius subbifurcus, and Mermis 

 albicans, hitlierto found parasitically infesting 

 the honey bee. The other insects yet observed 

 in the hive, such as the larva? of the wax moth 

 and of the clothes moth are not parasites of the 

 bee; neither is the pollen mite, since it docs not 

 infest the body of the bee or derive subsistence 

 thence, but lives on pollen. Gamasus coleop- 

 tratorum, found plcntitully on humble bees and 

 various bugs, is in )io respect a parasite of the 

 honey bee. It sometimes indeed may casually 

 be found on the body of a bee, but it is evi- 

 dently there as an estray, and is always eager 

 to leave. 



The larva? of TricJi'ides alvcarius are uncjues- 

 tionable parasites of the honey bee, (in the gen- 

 erally accepted sense), though found abundantly 

 in the nests of the ma -on bee. They may pos- 

 sibly also infest our honey bee, since the larvae 

 of its congener Trichodes apiarius Linn, are 

 found in bee hives, as well as those of Serro- 

 palpus barbatus, belonging to the family of 

 MclandiyadcB. 



It can scarcely be doubted that additional 

 species of parasites Avill in course of time be 

 found on this hymenoptarous insect. Thus, for 

 instance, we maj' fairly suspect Gordius aqua- 

 ticus and Mermis nigticans infest the honey 

 bee, since they are found, without exception, 

 in the various species of insects of all classes. 



Of tlic four parasites above mentioned, as 

 being found on the honey bee, the first two are 

 Dipterous, and the other two are Nematoidei. 

 Of the former, Braula cceca alone is an ecto- 

 parasite of the constant or life-long class. The 

 remaining three, Phora incrassata, Gordius 

 subbifurcm and Mermis albicans, are endo-par- 

 asites, and periodicallj^ permanent. 



I include the larva of 3felo6 cicatricosus in my 

 list, (though it has not yet been detected on the 

 honey bee), because I could give only what 

 may be termed fragmentary accounts of the lar- 

 va? of Meloe variegatus and Meloe proscarabceus, 

 since the series of transformations which these 

 undergo is not yet fully ascertained. But as 

 the primitive larva? of the genus 3Moe so great- 

 ly resemble each other, we may assume that 

 the subsequent transformation — the second lar- 

 val state, the pseudochrysalis, and tlie third 

 larval state, which scarcely differs from the sec- 

 ond—as likewise the pupoe of the remaining 

 species of 3Moe, correspond with those of 

 Meloe cicatricosus. It is only thus that any 

 probable account of the transformations of tliis 

 species of Coleoptera could be given. 



