Collection and quantification of arthropod parasites of birds.

Chapter 4:Ecological methods

The members of the family Scutacaridae (Acari, Heterostigmatina, Pygmephoroidea) are soil-living, fungivorous mites, and some of them are known to be associated with other animals After reviewing the mites’ behavioural and morphological adaptations to their animal-associated lifestyle, the present publication shows the result of a thorough literature research on scutacarids living in different kinds of associations with other animal taxa It revealed that within the more than 800 scutacarid species that have been described so far, about the half of them can be found together with various animal taxa The respective scutacarid species can be phoretic using their hosts for dispersal, they can be inquilines of their hosts benefiting from favourable conditions in the hosts’ nests, or they can be both The highest number of scutacarid species, by far, (n = 214) is associated with ants The second highest number can be found on beetles (94; mainly on ground beetles, Carabidae), followed by mammals (52), bees and wasps (35) and other insect taxa (39), and some species can be found together with birds (10) and arachnids (6) The most frequent genera Scutacarus, Imparipes and Archidispus show host preferences: Scutacarus and Imparipes tend to prefer ants, while Archidispus prefers beetles Usually, scutacarid species are rather specialised on one host genus or one host family, but some seem to be host generalists The possible influence of scutacarids on their hosts is not known yet, but they could play a sanitary role in their hosts’ nests

/pdf/tiny-mites-on-a-great-journey-a-review-on-scutacarid-mites-3sytouu2y5.pdf

Tiny mites on a great journey – a review on scutacarid mites as phoronts and inquilines (Heterostigmatina, Pygmephoroidea, Scutacaridae)

Prowadzone prace mialy ocenic przydatnośc skrzynek gniazdowych do badan biologii i ekologii malych gryzoni. Skrzynki rozmieszcono w lesie w Kampinoskim Parku Narodowym, lesie na wyspie jeziora Beldany oraz w zadrzewieniach środpolnych kolo Turwi (woj. poznanskie). Stosowano zmodyfikowany model skrzynki gniazdowej uzytej przez Howarda (1949).

http://rcin.org.pl/Content/10227/BI002_2613_Cz-40-2_Acta-T19-nr29-442-452_o.pdf

Utilization of nest boxes by rodents

Bdellidae (Trombidiformes: Prostigmata) are moderate to large sized predatory mites that inhabit soil, leaves, leaf litter, and intertidal rocks. They are readily recognized by an elongated, snout-like gnathosoma and by elbowed pedipalps bearing two (one in Monotrichobdella Baker & Balock) long terminal setae. Despite being among the first mites ever described, with species described by Carl Linnaeus, the knowledge about bdellids has never been compiled into a taxonomic catalogue. Here we present a catalogue listing 278 valid species; for each species we include distribution information, taxonomic literature, and type depository institutions. The genus Rigibdella Tseng, 1978 is considered a junior synonym of Cyta von Heyden, 1826, and Bdellodes Oudemans, 1937 is considered a junior synonym of Odontoscirus Tohr, 1913. Illustrated keys to subfamilies and genera are presented, as well as keys to species of each genus.

Catalogue of snout mites (Acariformes: Bdellidae) of the world

E NTRODUCTION Nests of small mammals and birds are favorable habitats for many kinds of mites. Bishopp (1923), Sambon (1928), Garman (1937), Linsley (1944), Hughes (1928), Woodruffe & Southgate (1951), Woodruffe (1953) and others have reported that nests are sources of domestic pests and Acarina which are of medical and economic importance. The acarine fauna, of nests of rodents has been studied by several investigators. Oudemans (1913) described many species of mites from moles' nests in Germany. The arthropod inhabitants of the pocket gopher in Texas were studied by Ross (1944). Wharton (1946) collected over 30 species of mites from the general nest area of rats on the island of Guam. Vysotska (1947) collected mites from the nests of Microtus arvnalis Pallas in Russia. Walters & Roth(1950) collected representatives of 12 families of Acarina from nests of the dusky-footed wood rat. Also from the inner nests of the dusky-footed wood rat Linsdale & Tevis (1951) collected representatives of 14 families of Acarina. Allred & Beek (1953) collected representatives of 43 families of mites from nests of two species of Neotoma in Utah. The method used by most authors to collect mites and other small arthropods from nests is an automatic collecting device such as a Berlese (Berlese 1905) or Tullgren (Tullgren 1917) apparatus. These devices use heat and/or light to drive the arthropods from the nests. A nest is brought in from the field, placed in a funnel, and then a light is suspended above the funnel or hot water is forced through a jacket which surrounds the funnel. The mites are collected in a small vial placed beneath the narrow end of the funnel. Norberg (1936), in a study of faunal-host relationships of bird nests, used a Tullgren apparatus to collect 272 species of Acarina from nests of 56 species of birds. He also used a different collecting method

Roger O. Drummond

Papers

Observations on Fluctuations of Acarine Populations from Nests of Peromyscus leucopus