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Nosema apis

fungus

Learn about this topic in these articles:

cause of disease in bees

  • In Nosema

    Another species, N. apis, attacks the gut epithelium of honeybees (especially workers) and causes nosema disease, a serious form of dysentery in animals.

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  • bees on a honeycomb
    In beekeeping: Diseases

    …disease, caused by the microsporidian Nosema apis, is the most serious disease of adult bees. It is widespread, causes heavy losses in honey production, and severely weakens colonies. The external symptoms of bees with nosema disease are not apparent. The disease is transmitted from adult to adult by ingestion of…

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Nosema, genus of spore-forming parasitic single-celled organisms, of the phylum Microsporidia, found in host cells where it undergoes repeated asexual divisions followed by spore formation.

The species N. bombycis, which causes the epidemic disease pébrine in silkworms, attacks all tissues and all developmental stages from embryo to adult. In advanced infections, small brown spots cover the body of the silkworm. Diseased larvae, which either are unable to spin cocoons or else spin them loosely, die without pupating. Louis Pasteur identified the spores (“corpuscles”) of Nosema as the disease agent in 1865 and suggested control by destruction of infected silkworm colonies and improved sanitation.

Another species, N. apis, attacks the gut epithelium of honeybees (especially workers) and causes nosema disease, a serious form of dysentery in animals.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Kara Rogers.