Molecular Identification and Prevalence of the Mite Carpoglyphus lactis (Acarina: Carpoglyphidae) in Apis mellifera in the Republic of Korea

Apis mellifera, especially weak ones, are highly vulnerable to Carpoglyphus lactis mites, which can rapidly infest and consume stored pollen, leading to weakened colonies and potential colony collapse. This study aimed to ascertain and investigate the prevalence of this mite in honeybee colonies across nine provinces in the Republic of Korea (ROK). A total of 615 honeybee colony samples were collected from 66 apiaries during the spring and 58 apiaries during the summer of 2023. A 1242 bp segment of the Cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (COI) gene was amplified using the polymerase chain reaction method. The detection levels of C. lactis in the honeybees were compared between winter and summer. Based on the COI sequence analysis, the nucleotide sequence similarity of C. lactis mites isolated in the ROK with those from China (NC048990.1) was found to be 99.5%, and with those from the United Kingdom (KY922482.1) was 99.3%. This study is the first report of C. lactis in Korean apiaries. The findings of this study demonstrate a significantly higher detection rate in winter, which is 4.1 times greater than that in summer (p < 0.001). Furthermore, the results underscore the usefulness of molecular diagnostic techniques for detecting C. lactis mites.