J. Steiner et al., THE 1ST GONOCYCLE OF THE PARASITIC MITE (VARROA-JACOBSONI) IN RELATION TO PREIMAGINAL DEVELOPMENT OF ITS HOST, THE HONEY-BEE (APIS-MELLIFERA-CARNICA), INVERTEBRATE REPRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT, 25(3), 1994, pp. 175-183
Initiation of oocyte development in Varroa jacobsoni depends on whethe
r the female enters the brood cell of Apis mellifera before operculati
on and subsequently sucks hemolymph from a late fifth instar bee larva
. Females inserted into the brood 24 h after cell capping, during the
spinning phase of the bee larva, do not initiate oocyte development. A
ll stages of mite vitellogenesis and embryogenesis which are described
here develop in a close temporal relation to the host stages. A timet
able of the first gonocycle is given showing its duration in worker an
d drone host cells. About 70 h after capping of the bee brood cell, th
e first egg is laid containing a nearly completed protonymph that hatc
hes within the next day.