DETECTION OF DEFORMED WING VIRUS (DWV) IN LOCAL SYRPHIDAE POPULATIONS
Date
2025-05
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
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Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
RNA viruses take a heavy toll on the health of Apis mellifera (western honey
bee) colonies. Viruses such as deformed wing virus (DWV) are responsible for large
amounts of colony death. While a plethora of research has been conducted on the
impacts of these viruses within honey bee hives, little research has been done to
determine if and how these viruses impact local pollinators such as native bees, wasps,
and flies. Syrphidae is a family of pollinating flies commonly known as hoverflies or
flower flies that share floral resources with honey bees. This project aims to determine
if DWV is present in hoverfly populations local to Newark, DE. I collected hoverflies
from June 8th, 2023, to October 4th
, 2023, and utilized RT-PCR to determine
presence/absence of DWV for each sample. I analyzed my data by week and genus to
determine if time of year or differences between genera plays a role in viral presence. I
found that there is no significant relationship between presence of virus and week but
that there is a significant relationship between presence of virus and hoverfly genus.
This indicates that morphology, evolutionary history, and/or life history strategy may
play an important role in viral transmission. More research is needed to determine
how hoverflies are impacted by DWV and their competence as hosts.