Prospects, challenges and perspectives in harnessing natural selection to solve the 'varroa problem' of honey bees.

Honey bees, , of European origin are major pollinators of crops and wild flora. Their endemic and exported populations are threatened by a variety of abiotic and biotic factors. Among the latter, the ectoparasitic mite is the most important single cause behind colony mortality.

Evolution of starvation resistance in an invasive insect species, (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae).

Starvation resistance, or the ability to survive periods without food, can shed light on selection pressure imposed by food scarcity, including chances to invade new regions as a result of human transport. Surprisingly, little information is known about starvation resistance for invasive insect species. Given that native and invasive populations differ in starvation resistance, this would suggest different selection scenarios and adaptive shifts fostering invasion success.

Bees and flowers: How to feed an invasive beetle species.

Invasive species may exploit a wide range of food sources, thereby fostering their success and hampering mitigation, but the actual degree of opportunism is often unknown. The small hive beetle (SHB), , is a parasite of honeybee colonies endemic to sub-Saharan Africa. SHBs have now spread on all habitable continents and can also infest colonies of other social bees.