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| Format: | Recurso digital |
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Zenodo
2026
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18721649 |
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Table of Contents:
- <p>This dataset is referred to the following manuscript:</p> <p><strong><span lang="EN-US">Comparative pathogenicity of nest-derived <em><span>Beauveria varroae</span></em> and commercial <em><span>Beauveria bassiana</span></em> against <em><span>Vespa orientalis</span></em></span></strong></p> <p><strong><span lang="it">Ernesto Ragusa<sup>1</sup> , Karen Power<sup>2*</sup>, Livio Torta<sup>1</sup> , Giovanni Jesu<sup>3</sup> , Giovanna De Leva<sup>3</sup>, Alessandro Scavuzzo<sup>1</sup> , Andrea Becchimanzi <sup>3,4*</sup></span></strong></p> <p><sup><span lang="EN-US">1 </span></sup><span lang="EN-US">Department of Agricultural, Food and Forest Sciences, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy</span></p> <p><sup><span lang="EN-US">2 </span></sup><span lang="EN-US">Department of Biology, University of Napoli “Federico II”, Naples, Italy</span></p> <p><sup><span lang="EN-US">3</span></sup><span lang="EN-US"> Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Napoli “Federico II”, Napoli, Italy</span></p> <p><sup><span lang="EN-US">4</span></sup><span lang="EN-US"> BAT Center - Interuniversity Center for Studies On Bioinspired Agro-Environmental Technology, University of Napoli “Federico II”, Napoli, Italy</span></p> <p><strong><span lang="EN-US">* </span></strong><span lang="EN-US">To whom correspondence may be addressed. Email: </span><span lang="it"><a href="mailto:karen.power@unina.it"><span lang="EN-US">karen.power@unina.it</span></a></span><span lang="EN-US">, </span><span lang="it"><a href="mailto:andrea.becchimanzi@unina.it"><span lang="EN-US">andrea.becchimanzi@unina.it</span></a></span></p> <p><strong><span lang="EN-US"> </span></strong></p> <p><strong><span lang="EN-US">Abstract</span></strong><span lang="EN-US"><br></span><span lang="EN-US">The oriental hornet (<em><span>Vespa orientalis</span></em>) is increasingly recognized as a significant pest of honey bees in southern Europe and other dry sub-humid regions, where it causes colony losses, disrupts foraging activity, and may contribute to pathogen circulation among apiaries. Current control measures, based mainly on trapping and nest destruction, are labor-intensive, poorly selective, and raise concerns for non-target organisms, highlighting the need for sustainable alternatives. Entomopathogenic fungi represent promising candidates due to their insecticidal activity and potential for horizontal transmission within social groups. We characterized the fungal community associated with decaying <em><span>V. orientalis</span></em> nests and identified <em><span>Beauveria varroae</span></em> as a naturally occurring entomopathogen. The nest-associated strain was compared with a commercial <em><span>Beauveria bassiana</span></em> strain (ATCC 74040; Naturalis®) in laboratory bioassays using contact, ingestion, and indirect transmission routes. Survival analyses revealed significant, dose- and route-dependent mortality for both strains. Histological observations confirmed fungal penetration and systemic colonization, particularly of fat body tissues, and indicated host immune responses at lower inoculum levels. Indirect transmission assays demonstrated the capacity of infected individuals to disseminate conidia to conspecifics. These findings identify <em><span>B. varroae</span></em> as a virulent pathogen of <em><span>V. orientalis</span></em> and support the feasibility of exploiting nest-level horizontal transmission (“Trojan horse” strategy) for hornet management. Further research should focus on optimizing delivery systems and assessing field applicability within integrated pest management frameworks.</span></p> <p><span lang="EN-US">The dataset include raw & analyzed survival data, as well as the NEXUS file used to plot the phylogenetic tree figure (Fig. 1). </span></p> <p> </p>