Behavioral responses of the small hive beetle, Aethina tumida, to odors of three meliponine bee species and honey bees, Apis mellifera scutellata

Abstract Recent studies have shown that honey bees, bumble bees, and some meliponine bee species of the genera T rigona , M eliponula , and D actylurina are hosts of the small hive beetle ( SHB ) A ethina tumida M urray ( C oleoptera: N itidulidae), a pest of honey bee colonies in various regions of the world. Olfaction has been implicated in SHB infestations of honey bee and bumble bee colonies. We used olfactometer bioassays to investigate responses of adult male and female SHB s to odors from intact colonies and separate hive components (pot honey, pot pollen, cerumen, and propolis) of three African meliponine bee species, M eliponula ferruginea ( L epeletier) (black morphospecies), M . ferruginea (reddish brown morphospecies), and M eliponula bocandei ( S pinola) ( H ymenoptera: A pidae). Although both sexes of the beetle strongly preferred intact colony, pot honey, and pot pollen odors, there was no evidence of attraction to propolis and cerumen odors from the three meliponine bee species. Both sexes of SHB also strongly preferred odors from honey bees, A pis mellifera L. ( H ymenoptera: A pidae), over odors from the three meliponine bee species. Our results provide substantial evidence of the host potential of A frican meliponine bees for the SHB , and we discuss this complex association of the SHB with species within the A pidae family.