Nidicolous mites associated with Bombus niveatus Kriechbaumer (Hymenoptera, Apidae) in Iran

Each spring, bumblebee queens establish their new nests in abandoned nests of birds, reptiles, rodents and other burrows in the soil. These bees, which are known as eusocial pollinators collect pollen and nectar from flowering plants, and form close relationships with various commensal, phoretic, or parasitic animals, as well as viral or protist pathogens (Ruiz-González and Brown 2006; Revainera et al. 2020). Mites are among important associates (parasites or commensals) frequently recorded from wild and commercial colonies of bumblebees (Husband and Husband 1996; Husband and Sinha 1970; Rozej et al. 2012). For example, the tracheal mite Locustacarus buchneri Stammer (Acari: Podapolipidae), is the most important and widespread parasitic mite of Bombus spp., having harmful effects on its hosts' fitness and behavior (Husband and Shina 1970; Otterstatter and Whidden 2004). Invasive mite haplotypes have been detected in commercial bumblebee colonies exported from Europe to Japan and in the Japanese native bee, Bombus hypocrita (Goka et al. 2006; Yoneda et al. 2008; Rozej et al. 2012). Although this endoparasite is known from at least 25 wild bumblebee species in the Holarctic (Husband and Husband 1996), there is no record in Iran yet.