Altitudinal variation in body size in Abacarus panticis Keifer (Acari: Eriophyidae)

We found that body length of a minute eriophyoid mite, Abacarus panticis Keifer, increased with elevation and rainfall, decreased with temperature, and exhibited a female-biased dimorphism. There was a negative temperature–body length relation in the female instead of the male, whose size remained constant along temperature gradients. In addition, scaling of body length between sexes is not significantly different from one. We conclude that within-species body length of A. panticis conforms to Bergmann’s trend but not Rensch’s rule. Further studies could take advantage of the more rigorous and flexible hierarchical model in the revelation of scale-specific determinants of phenotypic variation.