A potential future threat of the western honey bee (Apis mellifera) in North America are the parasitic mites in the genus Tropilaelaps which are currently confined to Asia and bordering areas. These mites are native brood parasites of the non-domesticated giant Asian honey bees, Apis dorsata, A. breviligula and A. laboriosa. They have spread onto the managed European honey bee (A. mellifera) sometime after humans introduced that bee into Asia. Nowadays, A. mellifera is kept for beekeeping throughout Asia and Tropilaelaps mites are one of its most damaging pests (Anderson and Roberts, 2013).

Mites of the genus Tropilaelaps (Acari: Laelapidae) are ectoparasite