Pilar De la Rua

University of Murcia | UM · Department of Zoology and Physical Antropology

Novel transmission routes can allow infectious diseases to spread, often with devastating consequences. Ectoparasitic varroa mites vector a diversity of RNA viruses and, having switched hosts from the eastern to western honey bees (Apis cerana to Apis mellifera). They provide an opportunity to explore how novel transmission routes shape disease epi...

Mexico is part of the Mesoamerican region where ancient bee keeping (meliponiculture, or stingless bee keeping) emerged and reached exceptional levels. Different events caused Mexican stingless bee keeping to decline. Recently, meliponiculture has modernized and is undergoing a dramatic change, rising from neglect to an alarming popularity. The inc...

Bees are a diverse group with more than 1000 species known from the Iberian Peninsula. They have increasingly received special attention due to their important role as pollinators and providers of ecosystem services. In addition, various rapid human-induced environmental changes are leading to the decline of some of its populations. However, we kno...

To provide a complete portrayal of the multiple factors negatively impacting insects in agricultural landscapes it is necessary to assess the concurrent incidence, magnitude, and interactions among multiple stressors over substantial biogeographical scales. Trans-national ecological field investigations with wide-ranging stakeholders typically enco...

Stingless bees are a diverse group of insects that contribute a wealth of fauna to Central America, as well as being important pollinators. Colonies of these stingless bees are managed and transported unregulated across geographic regions on the basis that they are native species. Populations of Nannotrigona perilampoides, one of the most common st...

Demand for food is growing along with the human population, leading to an increase in plant production. Many crops are pollinated by insects, so the global demand for managed pollinators is also increasing. The honey bee has traditionally been considered the main provider of crop pollination services. For providing it beekeepers seasonally transpor...

In this study, we update the knowledge about wild bees of the genus Hylaeus in the Canary Islands and discuss the possible effect on the phenology of exotic species on the endemic ones. Our records come both from entomological samplings and citizen science through photos registered in social networks. An additional molecular approach was performed...

Transferred copies of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) into the nuclear genome (numts) have been reported in several Hymenoptera species, even at a high density in the honey bee nuclear genome. The accidental amplification of numts in phylogenetic studies focused on mtDNA highlights the importance of a correct determination of numts and their related mtDN...

The stingless bee genus Scaptotrigona is widely distributed across tropical Mexico and includes economically important species used in stingless beekeeping. As Scaptotrigona colonies are currently or potentially translocated across regions, it is important to analyze the extent of genetic diversity from different populations. Herein, every analyzed...

Viruses are omnipresent, yet the knowledge on drivers of viral prevalence in wild host populations is often limited. Biotic factors, such as sympatric managed host species, as well as abiotic factors, such as climatic variables, are likely to impact viral prevalence. Managed and wild bees, which harbor several multi-host viruses with a mostly fecal...

The bumblebee Bombus terrestris L. (Hymenoptera: Apidae) is an effective pollinator of both wild and cultivated plants and essential for the pollination of various important greenhouse crops. Because of its sex determination mechanism, homozygosity of the complementary sex determination (csd) locus due to inbreeding causes fertilized eggs to develo...

The bumblebee Bombus terrestris is used worldwide for crop pollination. Despite its positive impact on crop yield, it has become a widespread threat to biodiversity due to its interactions with local bumblebee populations. Commercial subspecies introduced to the Iberian Peninsula since the 1990s without any regulation have colonized the environment...

Trypanosomatids are among the most prevalent parasites in bees but, despite the fact that their impact on the colonies can be quite important and that their infectivity may potentially depend on their genotypes, little is known about the population diversity of these pathogens. Here we cloned and sequenced three non-repetitive single copy loci (DNA...

Insect pollination is crucial for the maintenance of natural and managed ecosystems but the functioning of this ecosystem service is threatened by a worldwide decline of pollinators. Key factors in this situation include the spread and interspecific transmission of pathogens worldwide through the movement of managed pollinators. Research on this fi...

Managed honey bees have suffered severe seasonal losses for most of the past 30 years, while at the same time there is a growing need for food crop pollination. Parasitism by Varroa destructor plays a key role in explaining these losses as this parasite directly damages honey bees by feeding on them and by vectoring an array of viruses while doing...

Green periurban residential areas in Mediterranean countries have flourished in the last decades and become foci for leishmaniasis. To remedy the absence of information on vector ecology in these environments, we examined phlebotomine sand fly distribution in 29 sites in Murcia City over a 3-year period, including the plots of 20 detached houses an...

Diploid males represent a cost for the viability of populations in haplodiploid species with a single-locus complementary sex determination system. In such social species as bumble bees, their presence affects colony growth and reproduction, therefore, the detection of diploid males is an important aspect to implement conservation actions and for t...

The taxonomic status of Bombus terrestris subspecies is complex and has deep implications in the management of commercial bumblebees for crop pollination as well as in the establishment of appropriate conservation plans. Herein, the complete mitogenome of the endemic Canary Islands subspecies Bombus terrestris canariensis is newly sequenced and com...

Single page summary of Vanderplank et al (2021) - contains a QR code for accessing the paper

Current global change substantially threatens pollinators, which directly impacts the pollination services underpinning the stability, structure and functioning of ecosystems. Among these threats, many synergistic drivers such as habitat destruction and fragmentation, increasing use of agrochemicals, decreasing resource diversity as well as climate...

This protocol was developed for the COST-Action “Super-B”, whose purpose was to coordinate research, outreach and policy towards sustainable pollination1-3. The protocol addresses the detection of parasites and pathogens across bee species, as one of several possible drivers of bee decline4,5. It consists of four major components: 1. A sample colle...

A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13592-021-00856-8

Sicily (Italy) is an important hotspot diversity for bees and new species records are constantly reported for the island. Here, we rediscovered after 45 years without records, the occurrence in Eastern Sicily of Lasioglossum marginatum (Brull e 1832) confirmed by DNA barcoding. This is the only known species of eusocial sweat bees (Halictidae) with...

Background With numerous endemic subspecies representing four of its five evolutionary lineages, Europe holds a large fraction of Apis mellifera genetic diversity. This diversity and the natural distribution range have been altered by anthropogenic factors. The conservation of this natural heritage relies on the availability of accurate tools for s...

Island ecosystems are particularly vulnerable to the introduction of exotic species that can have an impact on local fauna and flora. Here, the carpenter bee Xylocopa pubescens is reported in Gran Canaria (Canary Islands, Spain) for the first time. This species is native to North Africa and the Near East and shows a rapid dispersion across the city...

Migratory beekeeping is a widely extended practice aimed at increasing the yield of products and pollination services of honey bee colonies. However, it represents a stress factor, as it facilitates the dissemination of diseases and may compromise the genetic identity of the colonies involved. To analyze the extent of these effects, pathogens infes...

Assessing the extent of parasite diversity requires the application of appropriate molecular tools, especially given the growing evidence of multiple parasite co-occurrence. Here we compared the performance of a next-generation sequencing technology (Ion PGM ™ System) in twelve Bombus terrestris specimens that were PCR-identified as positive for tr...

The genetic diversity of the honey bee (Apis mellifera) remains undescribed in some parts of its natural distribution range, concretely in those subspecies inhabiting central and southeastern Europe: the globally distributed A. m. ligustica and A. m. carnica, and A. m. cecropia and A. m. macedonica. In this study, we add further information about t...

In the course of 2019, the EIP-AGRI Focus Group (FG) on ”Bee health and sustainable beekeeping” explored and provided a state of play for different key factors that are important to honeybee health. The group of experts discussed the main drivers for change from today’s situation to a sustainable future. Their goal was to answer the overarching que...

Body temperature changes can modify an insect’s ability to fight infections by altering its immune activity. This work evaluated the impact of mild cold and heat thermal stress on the expression of different immune and heat shock genes in the species Bombus terrestris. Additionally, a thermal treatment was repeated under starvation to analyze a pos...

Long‐distance dispersal (LDD) is a pivotal process for plants determining their range of distribution and promoting gene flow among distant populations. Most fleshy‐fruited species rely on frugivorous vertebrates to disperse their seeds across the landscape. While LDD events are difficult to record, a few ecological studies have shown that birds mo...

The Iberian Peninsula is known to have acted as a glacial refugium for many species during the Pleistocene in Europe. Several phylogeographical studies have been carried out within the genus Bombus which indicate a genetic differentiation of some of its species in the southern European peninsulas. Bombus lucorum (Linnaeus, 1761) is one of the three...

The stingless bee Melipona beecheii is extensively distributed across Mexico and Central America and the only Melipona found in the Greater Antilles. The aim of this work was to establish possible continental affinities of M. beecheii from the Antilles. We compared populations from the main island (Cuba) with two clearly separated genetic lineages...

The bumblebee, Bombus terrestris, is an important pollinator commercially used on a global scale. The exported subspecies B. t. terrestris has colonised diverse environments, in some cases displacing wild pollinators to the verge of local extinction. In this sense, the native Iberian subspecies B. t. lusitanicus may be threatened by the subspecies...

Seed dispersal is an essential process to maintain the viability of plant populations, and understanding this ecological process allows management strategies to be developed to conserve ecosystems. European Union priority habitat 5220* is defined as "Mediterranean arborescent shrubland with Ziziphus lotus" and it represents a favorable microclimate...

The influence of genetic diversity and exposure to xenobiotics on the prevalence of pathogens was studied within the context of a voluntary epidemiological study in Spanish apiaries of Apis mellifera iberiensis, carried out during the spring season of years 2014 and 2015. As such, the evolutionary lineages of the honey bee colonies were identified,...

La península Ibérica alberga una gran diversidad de abejorros, pero falta mucha información sobre su biodiversidad en esta zona. Para evitar esto y facilitar estudios de conservación, presentamos dos novedosos ensayos para la amplificación múltiple de seis y cinco loci de microsatélites respectivamente. Ambos ensayos funcionaron con éxito para la m...

The aim of this study was to investigate the genetic diversity of Varroa destructor parasitizing Apis mellifera colonies and to test for possible host–parasite association at the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) level. Six A. mellifera haplotypes (including a novel C2aa) and five haplotypes of V. destructor were detected in 29 analyzed colonies from eight...

Mediterranean semiarid areas are suffering a growing process of agricultural abandonment that represents a challenge for restoration. Limited seed arrival, drought, and scarce suitable microhabitats in oldfields make plant colonization difficult. Restoration through ecological succession can take advantage of increased seed dispersal through animal...

Bombus magnus (Vogt, 1911) (Hymenoptera: Apidae) es una de las tres especies crípticas pertenecientes al complejo lucorum junto con B. lucorum (Linnaeus, 1761) y B. cryptarum (Fabricius, 1775). En la península Ibérica solo se encuentran B. lurocum y B. magnus pero la presencia de esta última no ha sido confirmada al sur de los Pirineos. Dada su sim...

A pesar de que España es uno de los países con mayor diversidad de polinizadores silvestres y, que de su conservación depende el futuro de nuestros cultivos y por tanto de nuestra alimentación, lo cierto es que hoy día seguimos sin conocer el estado de conservación de gran parte de esta fauna, una demanda histórica de la sociedad cien- tífica que s...

Bumblebees (genus Bombus Latreille) are pollinator insects of great ecological and economic importance, which commercial use for pollination has increased since the 80s. However, the introduction of foreign Bombus terrestris (Linnaeus) has resulted in a decline of native bumblebee populations in Japan, Chile or Argentina among others. To study the...

Honey bee hives are moved yearly mainly for pollination, but also to take advantage of consecutive flowering events to get as many harvests of honey as possible and/or to find favorable sites for food sources and summer temperatures. Such movements may lead to pathogen spill-over with consequences on the honey bee health and finally on population d...

Trypanosomatids are highly prevalent pathogens of Hymenoptera; however, most molecular methods used to detect them in Apis and Bombus spp. do not allow the identification of the infecting species, which then becomes expensive and time consuming. To overcome this drawback, we developed a multiplex PCR protocol to readily identify in a single reactio...

Urbanization threatens biodiversity worldwide and is expected to increase in the future. This involves intensification of fragmentation and increase of urban forest remnants. Thus, it is important to understand the functioning of these patches for the preservation of local biodiversity. Mutualistic interactions such as seed dispersal have a key rol...

A nationwide survey was performed to study the distribution of parasites, pathogens and pesticides in managed honey bee populations in Ghana. When 45 colonies were sampled and inspected for signs of disease, Varroa destructor was the most prevalent parasite (89%; n = 40), all mites corresponding to the Korean haplotype of this pathogen. Aethina tum...

Bumblebees provide pollination services not only to wildflowers but also to economically important crops. In the context of the global decline of pollinators, there is an increasing interest in determining the pathogen diversity of bumblebee species. In this work, wild bumblebees of the species Bombus terrestris and Bombus pascuorum from northern a...

Pathogens are major suspects for the current massive losses of honey bee colonies worldwide. Information about circulation and modes of transmission of Nosema ceranae, an emergent microsporidium parasite of Apis mellifera, is currently lacking. Here we examine the dispersion of N. ceranae and N. apis by the blue-tailed bee-eater Merops philippinus,...

The Pyrenees, where Euro-Siberian, Mediterranean and alpine faunas join together, have a large biodiversity of bumblebees. We compiled historical literature records of bumblebee species from the Spanish Pyrenees, and then compared these to contemporary surveys to assess trends in elevational distribution. Twenty-eight species (including thirty-five...

The honeybee (Apis mellifera) has been threatened by multiple factors including pests and pathogens, pesticides, and loss of locally adapted gene complexes due to replacement and introgression. In western Europe, the genetic integrity of the native A. m. mellifera (M-lineage) is endangered due to trading and intensive queen breeding with commercial...

Geometric morphometrics and molecular methods are effective tools to study the variability of stingless bee populations and species that merit protection given their worldwide decline. Based on previous evidence of cryptic lineages within the Scaptotrigona genus, we tested the existence of multiple evolutionary lineages within the species S. mexica...

Across the globe wild bees are threatened by ongoing natural habitat loss, risking the maintenance of plant biodiversity and agricultural production. Despite the ecological and economic importance of wild bees, and the fact that several species are now managed for pollination services worldwide, little is known about how land use and beekeeping pra...

Accelerating taxonomic knowledge and making accurate species identifications are critically important given the current biodiversity crisis, particularly in biodiversity hotspots such as Mesoamerica. Objective species delimitation that reduces investigator-driven bias is fundamental to the establishment of appropriate conservation strategies, above...

Nosema ceranae es un parásito intracelular del grupo de los microsporidios. Se detectó por primera vez en la abeja asiática Apis cerana (Fries et al. 1996) pero más tarde se observó en las poblaciones europeas de Apis mellifera (Higes et al. 2010) y actualmente se encuentra distribuido por todo el mundo (Williams et al. 2008). Este nuevo parásito c...

Two microsporidians are known to infect honey bees: Nosema apis and Nosema ceranae. Whereas population genetics data for the latter have been released in the last few years, such information is still missing for N. apis. Here we analyze the patterns of nucleotide polymorphism at three single-copy loci (PTP2, PTP3 and RPB1) in a collection of Apis m...

Median-joining haplotype network for three N. ceranae loci according to their A. mellifera lineage: PTP2 (A), PTP3 (B) and RPB1 (C). Haplotypes are depicted by circles, the width being proportional to their frequencies (only shared haplotypes are named). Color codes are as follows; blue: lineage A (isolates 839 (Algeria), 57 and 253 (Spain), 169 (B...

Origin and accession numbers of N. ceranae sequences obtained from A. mellifera honey bees. (XLS)

Number of occurrences and nucleotide variants of PTP2A haplotypes from N. apis. (XLS)

Origin and accession numbers of N. apis sequences obtained from A. mellifera honey bees. (XLS)

Number of occurrences and nucleotide variants of PTP3A haplotypes from N. apis. (XLS)

Number of occurrences and nucleotide variants of RPB1A+B haplotypes from N. apis. (XLS)