Varroa destructor

Varroa destructor, commonly called the Varroa mite, is an external parasitic mite that attacks and feeds on honey bees and ranks among the most damaging honey bee pests in the world. It parasitizes both the western honey bee, Apis mellifera, and the Asian honey bee, Apis cerana, in an infestation known as varroosis. The mite weakens its hosts directly and also acts as a vector for at least five debilitating bee viruses, including deformed wing virus, and it has been implicated as a contributing factor in colony collapse disorder. Without management, infested colonies in temperate climates typically collapse within two to three years, and by 2020 the mite had spread through most of North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and parts of Africa. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/