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American biologists have discovered that the Israeli acute paralysis virus (IAPV), which infects bees, can change their behavior and begin to secretly enter neighboring colonies.
One of the authors of the study at the University of Illinois, Professor Adam Dulzal, said: “It is interesting that it is easy for bees infected with the virus to penetrate other colonies as if cell guards did not notice them, and this is rare. in bees, “according to” National Academy of Sciences “magazine.
The researchers studied the behavior of several parasites that control the behavior of their hosts, including the “Ophiocordyceps” parasite, which turns tropical ants into zombies.
This parasite completely controls the nervous system of insects, forcing them to adhere to the branches and leaves of trees that are directly above the bees.
Scientists have discovered a similar feature in the Israeli acute paralysis virus, where the virus controls the behavior of infected bees, and the infection causes the bees to lose their movement and then die.
Beekeepers and biologists have long observed that insects with “IAPV” often act very strangely in the early stages of the disease. They forget the way to their cell after collecting nectar and fly to neighboring bee colonies. This often leads to the rapid spread of the virus through apiaries.
It is still unknown how worker bees trick guards into a strange colony, but researchers hope the virus disrupts the pheromones produced by the bees, and therefore the guards don’t care.
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