Biology subjects

Huang, Z. Y.

Publications and source records attributed to Huang, Z. Y..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Rapid host switching by Varroa destructor: implications for pathogen transmission and contact-based Varroa control

BACKGROUND: Varroa destructor is the major ectoparasite of honey bees and a vector of viral pathogens. Because pathogen transmission and exposure to contact-active acaricides depend on mite host contacts, understanding the factors governing host residence time is important for both disease epidemiology and pest management. We quantified host residence time under varying bee densities and host-type compositions. RESULTS: Mean residence time was 9.48 h across 312 host-residence events. Mites remained on individual hosts for only 2.36 h on Day 1 but approximately 11-14 h from Day 2 onward. A generalized linear mixed model showed a strong positive effect of day on residence time ({beta} = 0.341, SE = 0.044, P < 0.001), corresponding to an approximately 41% increase in residence time per day. Excluding Day 1 eliminated this effect (P = 0.16), indicating that the temporal pattern was driven primarily by the initial exposure period. Reconstructing Day 1 observations to an 8-hour schedule confirmed that this pattern was not an artifact of observation frequency. Neither host type nor bee density affected residence time, and mite occupancy of nurse bees matched host availability. CONCLUSION: Host residence time was governed primarily by initial exposure rather than host identity or moderate crowding. The results identify a previously undescribed exploratory phase immediately after mites enter a novel adult-bee population. Because shorter residence times imply more frequent host switching, these findings improve our understanding of pathogen transmission dynamics and may help explain variation in the performance of contact-based Varroa control strategies.

animal behavior and cognition↗

bioRxiv2026

Comparative scototaxis among four honey bee species

Honey bees can swim on the water surface toward dark regions, a behavior known as scototaxis that may facilitate escape from water. Although this behavior has been reported in both honey bees and solitary bees, variation among honey bee species remains poorly understood. We compared scototaxis during swimming in four honey bee species representing two nesting types: open-nesting (Apis florea and A. dorsata) and cavity-nesting (A. cerana and A. mellifera). Individual bees were released into a water-filled arena containing a dark sector, and their landing angles were recorded. All species exhibited significant orientation toward the dark sector. However, open-nesting species showed significantly stronger orientation than cavity-nesting species. No significant differences were detected between replicate colonies within species or between species within the same nesting type, whereas differences between nesting types were highly significant. Hierarchical clustering based on orientation strength placed Osmia, a solitary cavity-nesting bee from our previous study, in the same behavioral cluster as the two open-nesting Apis species rather than the cavity-nesting honey bees. We also measured swimming duration, distance, and velocity, but found no consistent differences between nesting types. These results demonstrate substantial interspecific variation in swimming scototaxis. The behavioral clustering is consistent with the hypothesis that strong scototaxis represents an ancestral trait that has been reduced in the derived A. cerana/A. mellifera lineage.

animal behavior and cognition↗

bioRxiv2026

Nosema ceranae infection disrupts nestmate recognition in honey bees

Social immunity reduces pathogen transmission in eusocial insects by collectively detecting and excluding infected or foreign individuals. In honey bees (Apis mellifera), guard workers enforce colony boundaries through nestmate recognition. Here we show that infection with the microsporidian parasite Nosema ceranae weakens this defense. Across 600 behavioral assays, infected workers were 45% less likely to be rejected than uninfected controls. Infection was also associated with modest but significant shifts in cuticular hydrocarbon profiles, the primary cues underlying nestmate recognition. Multivariate analyses revealed modest but significant treatment-associated differences in CHC composition that were not attributable to dispersion effects. These findings demonstrate that infection can degrade the reliability of recognition cues and thereby compromise a core behavioral component of social immunity.

animal behavior and cognition↗