Arrigo Moro

University of Galway | NUI Galway · Department of Zoology

Despite their ecological significance, wild Apis mellifera populations remain critically understudied. Addressing this research gap requires the study and monitoring of free-living colonies to identify potential self-sustaining populations. However, a lack of standardized methodologies has hindered these efforts. To address this challenge, Honey Be...

Honey bees are predominantly perceived as a domesticated animal for agricultural purposes, while their role and importance as a wild species is often overlooked. In contrast to managed populations, wild cohorts are shaped by natural selection, which is why they can potentially cope better with threats like Varroa destructor and a changing environme...

Implementation of marker-assisted selection (MAS) in modern beekeeping would improve sustainability, especially in breeding programs aiming for resilience against the parasitic mite Varroa destructor. Selecting honey bee colonies for natural resistance traits, such as brood-intrinsic suppression of varroa mite reproduction, reduces the use of chemi...

Honey bee colonies have great societal and economic importance. The main challenge that beekeepers face is keeping bee colonies healthy under ever-changing environmental conditions. In the past two decades, beekeepers that manage colonies of Western honey bees (Apis mellifera) have become increasingly concerned by the presence of parasites and path...

Simple Summary Varroa destructor, a parasitic mite, has significantly impacted Irish beekeeping, causing alarming colony losses and threatening the native honeybee subspecies, Apis mellifera mellifera. While Irish beekeepers are crucial for controlling this parasite, they lack supportive infrastructure. This creates a unique opening for national pr...

Citizen Science contributes significantly to the conservation of biodiversity, but its application to honey bee research has remained minimal. Even though certain European honey bee (Apis mellifera) populations are known to naturally survive Varroa destructor infestations, it is unclear how widespread or common such populations are. Such colonies a...

Comparative studies of genetic diversity and population structure can shed light on the ecological and evolutionary factors governing host-parasite interactions. Even though invasive parasites are considered of major biological importance, little is known about their adaptative potential when infesting the new hosts. Here, the genetic diversificati...

Co-evolution is a major driving force shaping the outcome of host-parasite interactions over time. After host shifts, the lack of co-evolution can have a drastic impact on novel host populations. Nevertheless, it is known that Western honey bee (Apismellifera) populations can cope with host-shifted ectoparasitic mites (Varroa destructor) by means o...

The ectoparasitic mite, Varroa destructor, is the most severe biotic threat to honeybees (Apis mellifera) globally, usually causing colony death within a few years without treatments. While it is known that a few A. mellifera populations survive mite infestations by means of natural selection, the possible role of mite adaptations remains unclear....

Established invasive species can pose a continuous threat to biodiversity and food security, thereby calling for sustainable mitigation. There is a consensus that the ubiquitous ecto-parasitic mite Varroa destructor, an invasive species from Asia, is the main biological threat to global apiculture with Apis mellifera. V. destructor has almost compl...

Established invasive species can pose a continuous threat to biodiversity and food security, thereby calling for sustainable mitigation. There is a consensus that the ubiquitous ecto-parasitic mite Varroa destructor, an invasive species from Asia, is the main biological threat to global apiculture with Apis mellifera. V. destructor has almost compl...

The study evaluates the efficacy and effects of two organic acid-based miticides (Maqs® and Api-Bioxal®) used in late summer to reduce the population of Varroa destructor mites in colonies of Apis mellifera ligustica. The study took place in Albaredo d’Adige (Verona, Northeastern Italy). Twenty-six honey bee colonies, divided into four groups, were...