# do hornets and wasp get mites



## MrJeff (Mar 20, 2010)

concrete-bees said:


> does the varroa attack the other social wasp like they do the honeybees?
> 
> and if not WHY ???
> 
> ...


I know that they are sometimes afflicted with maybes.

Seriously, though, that is a good question. Curious to know what the answer is.


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## concrete-bees (Jun 20, 2009)

darn fingers typing the wrong words -- 
haha - thanks jeff 

but it is a good question - next time i find a large bald faced hornet nest ill jab my hand right on in there and test for mites !!!! haha

ill tell ya all about it !!!!!


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## WLC (Feb 7, 2010)

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2256338

http://ento.psu.edu/pollinators/members

'We are developing genomic resources for Varroa mites, a serious pest of honey bees, fire ants, and the paper wasp Polistes dominulus, both excellent models for study the evolution of social behavior.'

http://flaentsoc.org/09festufts_hunter_integrate.pdf

Now we know how they got viruses integrated into their genome (varroa has DWV integrated into its genome as well).


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## Robert Brenchley (Apr 23, 2000)

Maybe wasp larvae don't produce whatever substance it is that attracts the mites to them.


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## HarryVanderpool (Apr 11, 2005)

Varroa cannot live apart from it's apis host.
No other host has been discovered that will suuport varroa's reproduction cycle, although it has been rumored that bombus is a possibility.
Just look at varroa's reproductive cycle and wasps, hornets, etc The answer is plain as day ; NO.


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## Reef Resiner (Jun 9, 2015)

Last year in my yard I saw a bunch of yellow jackets with brown/reddish mites on them. Some of them had more than 1 Mite on them. Was it varroa? Looked like it. Next year I will take pictures if I see it again.


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## rwlaw (May 4, 2009)

I've seen pictures of beetles with what appeared to varroa on them, there was no footnote so there's no way of knowing if it was destructor or not.


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## snapper1d (Apr 8, 2011)

WLC said:


> http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2256338
> 
> http://ento.psu.edu/pollinators/members
> 
> ...


If they can get varroa mites onto fire ants I would be tickled!!! Fire ants are everywhere.


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