Report and Survey of Morphometric Characteristics of Varroa destructor (Acari:Varroidae) Collected from Honey Bees in Tehran Province, Iran

This research explains the morphometric characteristics of Varroa destructor Anderson and Trueman in Tehran Province. 180 adult female mites were collected from three different colonies of Apis mellifera L. in three apiaries during September 2003 to May 2004. These colonies were divided according to three altitudes-less than 1000m, 1000-1500m and more than 1500m above the sea level. The morphological characteristics of mite samples were examined using light microscopy. Measurements of mite specimens in-cluding body lengths, widths, mean size of leg segments and chelicerae were obtained from 180 females. Data were analyzed using the SAS package. The results revealed that: with 95% confidence intervals, body lengths were 1152.6-1218.9 (for less than 1000m alti-tude), 1163.2-1220.7 (for 1000-1500m altitude) and 1167.1-1228.3 (for grater than 1500m altitude). Also, body widths for those apiaries with 95% confidence intervals were: 1709.8-1818.2, 1712.1-1819.5 and 1720.4-1820.6, respectively. Mean body lengths were 1197.2, 1199.2 and 1200.1 and mean body widths were 1775.6, 1781.7 and 1789.9, respec-tively. No significant differences were observed between the size of leg segments and che-licerae among specimens studied. Comparison between measurements of body lengths and widths of specimens which were collected from Firozkoh (above 1500m altitude), Karaj(1000-1500m altitude) and apiaries in Varamin (less than 1000m altitude) in Tehran Province revealed that there was no significant difference between the three colonies. These specimens were also differ from V. jacobsoni. The results showed that our speci-mens were V. destructor not V. jacobsoni. Moreover, the Tehran Province specimens are similar to V. destructor in that they are less spherical than V. jacobsoni.