varroa mite

noun

var·​roa mite ˈver-ə-wə- 

ˈva-rə-

: any of a genus (Varroa) of parasitic Asian mites that suck the hemolymph of honeybees and their larvae

especially : one (V. destructor) of worldwide distribution that is a serious pest of the European honeybee

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web

And while cheap and easy travel has enabled the migration of both humans and animals, this has also contributed to the spread of viruses and pests, like the varroa mite, that are killing bees, along with climate change. —Shoshanna Solomon, Fortune, 31 Oct. 2022

Millions of bees have been destroyed to help contain the spread of the deadly varroa mite, which reappeared in the country last week near the Port of Newcastle. —New York Times, 30 June 2022

Beekeepers then shifted to another miticide called amitraz, but after twenty years of use, the varroa mite is beginning to show signs of resistance with only a limited number of other options in the pipeline. —Steven Savage, Forbes, 30 Apr. 2022

Some 2 decades ago, researchers at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and elsewhere began to study related species that can kill the varroa mite. —Erik Stokstad, Science | AAAS, 4 June 2021

The new arrivals can also carry a parasite called the varroa mite, which has decimated bee populations worldwide. —Erik Stokstad, Science | AAAS, 28 Apr. 2020

Not from varroa mites, pesticides, colony collapse disorder, or any of the many other perils now facing honeybee populations across the world, but from hornets—each one a red-eyed giant next to the hairy little bees. —National Geographic, 8 Feb. 2020

Dennis vanEngelsdorp, a professor of entomology at the University of Maryland and chief scientist for the Bee Informed Partnership, said that while extreme weather has worsened honeybees’ plight, the biggest threat is varroa mites. —Laura Reiley, Washington Post, 6 July 2019

As the University of Maryland shares the latest survey results, entomologists there are urging beekeepers to use three different strategies to fight the spread of varroa mites. —Scott Dance, Washington Post, 20 June 2019

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Word History

Etymology

borrowed from New Latin Varroa, after Marcus Terentius varro, who wrote about beekeeping in De re rustica

First Known Use

1983, in the meaning defined above