Publications

Jul 2013

Destructive tree diseases that are associated with ambrosia and bark beetles: Black swan events in tree pathology?

Ploetz, Randy C., Hulcr, Jiri, Wingfield, Michael J., de Beer, Z. Wilhelm

Plant Disease

Diseases associated with ambrosia and bark beetles comprise some of the most significant problems that have emerged on trees in...

Aug 2015

Large shift in symbiont assemblage in the invasive red turpentine beetle

Taerum, Stephen J., Duong, Tuan A., De Beer, Z. Wilhelm, Gillette, Nancy et al.

PLoS ONE

Changes in symbiont assemblages can affect the success and impact of invasive species, and may provide knowledge regarding the...

Jan 2012

The pheromones of laying workers in two honeybee sister species: Apis cerana and Apis mellifera

Tan, Ken, Yang, Mingxian, Wang, Zhengwei, Radloff, Sarah E. et al.

JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE PHYSIOLOGY A-NEUROETHOLOGY SENSORY NEURAL AND BEHAVIORAL PHYSIOLOGY

When a honeybee colony loses its queen, workers activate their ovaries and begin to lay eggs. This is accompanied by a shift in...

2012

'Toxic nectar': harmful and beneficial effects of nicotine on an important pollinator, the African honeybee

Koehler, A., Pirk, C. W. W., Nicolson, S. W.

SOUTH AFRICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY

2012

How healthy are our honeybees - Health check of a major pollinator

Pirk, C. W. W., Human, H.

SOUTH AFRICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY

Jan 2012

Genotypic diversity in queenless honey bee colonies reduces fitness

Bratkowski, J., Pirk, C. W. W., Neumann, P., Wilde, J.

Journal of Apicultural Research

Honey bee queens mate with many males. The resulting genotypic diversity appears to enhance fitness of queenright colonies (those...

Jul 2012

Waggle dances in absconding colonies of the red dwarf honeybee, Apis florea

Duangphakdee, O., Hepburn, H. R., Radloff, S. E., Pirk, C. W. W. et al.

Insectes Sociaux

Feb 2012

Honeybees and nectar nicotine: Deterrence and reduced survival versus potential health benefits

Köhler, Angela, Pirk, Christian W. W., Nicolson, Susan W.

Journal of Insect Physiology

Secondary metabolites produced by plants for herbivore defence are often found in floral nectar, but their effect on the foraging...

Jul 2012

Simultaneous stressors: Interactive effects of an immune challenge and dietary toxin can be detrimental to honeybees

Köhler, A., Pirk, C. W. W., Nicolson, S. W.

Journal of Insect Physiology

Recent large-scale mortality of honeybee colonies is believed to be caused by multiple interactions between diseases, parasites,...