A model of dispersion and regulation of brood mite (Tropilaelaps clareae) parasitism on the giant honeybee (Apis dorsata)

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Abstract
We observed that the distribution of the parasitic brood mite Tropilaelaps clareae Delfinado and Baker on the giant honeybee, Apis dorsata F., in northern Thailand, is aggregated and fits a negative binomial distribution if parasite-associated host mortality is presumed. Because no brood mortality was directly observed, we propose to account for this presumed host mortality through the removal of infested late-instar larval brood or pupae, along with their parasites, by worker nurse bees. An ability of bees to detect infected brood, as a function of the number of parasites associated with the host, correlates significantly with observed data. We show how such a prophylactic strategy could regulate parasite density, because parasite mortality would increase more rapidly than brood host mortality. Finally, we suggest that the potential tendency for the parasite population to be less aggregated, to evade bee defensive behaviour, may be counteracted by an advantage to sexual reproduction. The predicted degree of aggregation that would result in the maximal number of sexual encounters closely matches the degree of aggregation derived from the observed data.