Infestation of Apis mellifera colonies by Megaselia scalaris (Loew, 1866) in Abruzzo and Molise regions, central-southern Italy

Abstract

Phoridae, which belong to the Diptera order, were identified as the cause of serious infestations of Apis mellifera colonies in the American continent such as Phoridae from the genus “Melaloncha” in Central America and Apocephalus borealis in the USA. Some authors identified a novel phorid, Megaselia scalaris, as a possible parasitoid of honey bee in Brazil. Recently, in Europe, Diptera from the genus Megaselia was found able to parasitize adults of A. mellifera. So far, in the old continent, such infestation was reported only in bees dead or affected by other diseases, but never in healthy bees. From July through August 2014, the prevalence of myiases affecting A. mellifera was verified in Abruzzo and Molise regions. Most of the selected apiaries showed a great infestation of bees due to M. scalaris, even if they were apparently healthy, during trapping back from their foraging trip. Here, we report the results of our work to stress the impact that this parasitoid might have on health condition of beehive.