Temporal dynamics of Epormenis cestri Berg (Hemiptera: Flatidae) and its association with the landscape components of the Entre Rios Littoral

Abstract

The condition called "river disease" (MDR by its acronym in Spanish) is an intoxication in immature stages of honey bees caused by a compound from the genus Sebastiania Spreng and concentrated in the exudates of Epormenis cestri Berg. Our objective was to determine the temporal dynamics of the life cycle of E. cestri, its association with the predominant vegetation components and the influence of the Uruguay river on the size of its populations. With this aim, we selected 5 sites in the vicinity of the Uruguay river where populations of E. cestri were sampled using the Stem-tap technique modified for this purpose. The effect of landscape components on the abundance of E. cestri was evaluated using GLMM. It was determined that the hatching of the E. cestri eggs was in mid-October, finding a staggered distribution of its phenophases. In addition, we found significantly negative effects of the Espinal forest cover and the increase in the distance from the banks of the Uruguay river on the total abundance of E. cestri. This work shows some first clues for the understanding of how the components of the landscape structure the populations of E. cestri, allowing to predict the critical moment of incidence of MDR.