(ORDO NEWS) — A new deformed wing virus could wipe out honey bee populations around the world, said Robert Paxton, a professor in the department of general zoology at the University of Halle-Wittenberg, according to Newsweek.
According to a German biologist, “a new, highly contagious variant kills bees faster.” It causes severe damage to the wings of insects, due to which they cannot fly.
The virus is spread by the parasitic Varroa mites, which are considered one of the biggest threats to honey bees in the world. These mites enter hives and reproduce by laying eggs on pupae.
If not detected and treated early, the mite population can increase to such an extent that the hive will die from diseases and deformities caused by parasites.
“Our analysis confirms that the new variant of the virus is already dominant in Europe.
Its spread around the world is just a matter of time,” Paxton warned of the global extinction of insects.
As the scientist specified, the virus has already “settled down on all continents except Australia”.
Earlier it became known that one of the main causes of the mass extinction of insects is El Niño (Southern Oscillation).
Natural fluctuations in surface water temperatures in the equatorial Pacific Ocean have a significant impact on prolonged droughts and wildfires around the planet.
Combined with the destruction of Amazonian ecosystems caused by human activities, including deforestation, this has more than halved the number of dung beetles in the region alone.
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