The parasitic mite Varroa destructor aVects non-associative learning in honey bee foragers, Apis mellifera L

The parasitic mite Varroa destructor inXuences Xight behavior, orientation and returning success of forager honeybees (Apis mellifera) infested as adults. As impaired orientation toward the nest entrance might be due to deWciency in recognition and responsiveness to stimuli in the environment, we examined eVects of V. destructor on sensory responsiveness, nonassociative and associative learning of honey bee foragers by using proboscis extension reaction paradigm (PER). Although infested and uninfested workers were initially equally responsive to diVerent concentrations of sugar water, we found diVerences in non-associative learning. In habituation, PER to repeated sugar stimulation of the antennae occurred faster in infested foragers compared to uninfested foragers. In sensitization, infested foragers showed a lower response to an odor stimulus following sugar stimulation than non-infested foragers. DiVerences in non-associative paradigms were more pronounced in bees with lower responsiveness to sucrose. In conditioning learning experiments, a signiWcant reduction in proboscis extension response was found 1 min but not 12 min after a single conditioning trial indicating that V. destructor predominantly aVects the non-associative components of learning and its underlying neural and molecular processes.