Temperature-dependent predator-prey mite ecosystem on apple tree foliage

Summary The biological control of the McDaniel spider mite, which is a pest on apple tree foliage, by a predacious mite species, which feeds upon it, is represented by a continuous-discrete time hybrid model incorporating temperature effects explicityland mite metamorphosis implicitly. The results of this model can be shown to provide good agreement when compared with relevant field data.     

Isolation and characterisation of a 13.8-kDa bacteriolytic enzyme from house dust mite extracts: homology with prokaryotic proteins suggests that the enzyme could be bacterially derived

Bacteriolytic activity was detected in extracts of whole mite and spent growth medium (SGM) from the clinically important Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus and Dermatophagoides farinae mites and was most abundant in whole mite extract. Gram-positive organisms Micrococcus lysodeikticus, Bacillus megaterium and Listeria monocytogenes were preferentially lysed and the lytic activity was enhanced by thiols, destroyed by mite proteases, inhibited by HgCl2 and high concentrations of NaCl but was resistant to heat and acid treatment. Substrate SDS-PAGE analysis indicated the presence of several lytic enzymes, two of which were isolated from D. pteronyssinus spent growth medium extract by hydroxyapatite chromatography. The N-terminal amino acid sequence of one of them was then used in PCR-based cloning studies. The complete amino acid sequence of this protein was determined and cDNA found to encode a 130-amino acid residue mature protein with a 20-amino acid leader sequence. The deduced protein demonstrated sequence similarity with the C-terminal regions of a group of bacterial proteins belonging to the P60 superfamily. These data suggest that the enzyme is derived from bacteria within the mites rather than from mites per se.     

Intraplant distribution of Acalitus essigi (Acari: Eriophyoidea) on blackberries (Rubus fruticosus agg.)

Specialised phytophagous arthropods often display high levels ofspecificity to particular sites on their host plant. In this paper we examinethe occupation of microhabitats and aggregation patterns of the eriophyoidmite,Acalitus essigi (Hassan), on its host plant, Europeanblackberry (Rubus fruticosus L. aggregate), a plant thatundergoes significant seasonal changes in its morphology. A.essigi was found to be a refuge inhabiting species. It resided inbudand leaf axil microhabitats on both primocanes and fructocanes and alsooccupiedberry and bract microhabitats on fructocanes. Population fluctuations withinthedifferent microhabitats were evident across seasons. From summer to winter,populations significantly declined in bract and leaf axil microhabitats, butsignificantly increased within bud microhabitats where overwintering took placeas slowly reproducing colonies. Live fruit and young shoots were alsoidentifiedas overwintering sites. A. essigi populations displayed anaggregated distribution both within and between individual blackberry canes.Within primocanes A. essigi were aggregated in the lower20% of cane length. On fructocanes aggregation of A.essigiwas in the lower 20% and especially in the upper 20% of cane length. In springA. essigi was confirmed to emerge from bud overwinteringsites and colonise shoots mainly in the lower third of the previousseason's primocanes, suggesting limited dispersal away from overwinteringsites. It is proposed that biotic factors such as tissue age, microhabitatmorphology and limited ambulatory dispersal capabilities are responsible fortheaggregation patterns of this mite.     

伊朗Karaj地区双孢蘑菇上的螨类调查（英文）

2004年春季至2006年夏季期间,调查了伊朗Karaj地区双孢蘑菇上的螨类,发现了3目9科17种食菌性、捕食性和腐食性螨类,包括：光滑巨螯螨Macrocheles glaber (Müller),粪巨螯螨Macrocheles merdarius (Berlese),近褐巨螯螨Macrocheles subbadius(Berlese),甲虫寄螨Parasitus coleoptratorum （Linnaeus）,粪堆寄螨Parasitus fimetorum （Berlese）,乳突寄螨Parasitus mammillatus (Berlese),Sancassania rodionovi Zachvatkin,腐食酪螨Tyrophagus putrescentiae (Schrank),Uroobovella fimicola (Berlese),Ameroseius fungicolus^* Masan,Pediculaster kneeboni^* Wicht,Pediculaster flechtmanni^* Wicht,Scutacarus longitarsus (Berlese),Dendrolaelaps multidentatus^* Masan,柴特北绥螨Arctoseius cetratus (Sellnick),Lasioseius sugawarai^* Ehara和Ameroseius plumigera Oudemans。其中有“*”号标记的6个种为伊朗新纪录种,12个种为在蘑菇上首次发现。     

Effectiveness of second mating for two incompatible types of the citrus red mite,Panonychus citri (McGregor)

Two types of the citrus red mite, Panonychus citri (M.) occur in some pear orchards in the intermediate latitudal areas in Japan during a certain period of the year (Takafuji andMorimoto , 1983): one is a diapausing type ( DP ) and the other a non-diapausing type ( C ). These two types are incompatible: no adult females are produced from the crosses between them (Takafuji andFujimoto , 1985). In the present study, females of each type were doubly crossed, first with a male of the other type, and then with a male of the same type, to examine the effectiveness of the second mating. In the females of the DP type, the second mating with a male of the same type was almost totally ineffective. In contrast, for the females of the C type the effectiveness of the second mating depended on the durations of the first and second matings: the famles produced female offspring only when the duration of the first copulation with a male of the DP type was brief and the second copulation with a male of the C type lasted relatively long. The results suggested that if the two types coexist, the intercrossing between them will favour the C type over the DP type.     

Evaluation of low humidity treatments to control Acarus farris (Acari: Acaridae) in Cabrales cheese

Laboratory experiments were conducted to establish the best combination of relative humidity (r.h.) and time of exposure to be applied on Cabrales cheeses infested with Acarus farris. Laboratory assays revealed that less than 30 h were required to obtain 90% mortality of mites at 50% and 60% r.h. Males were more susceptible than females to low relative humidity, since their lethal period values (LP) were lower than those obtained for females at the same relative humidity. Moreover, the response within sexes to low moisture treatments changed as exposure time increased, since the LP50 obtained for each sex at 50 and 60% r.h. were statistically different whereas the LP90 showed no significant differences within sexes. Accordingly, two modifications of the traditional maturing process were established to assess the efficacy of low moisture treatments to control A. farris on infested cheeses. The first modification consisted of one single exposure of 48 h at 50% r.h. and the second one consisted of two exposures of 48 h at 50% r.h. separated by a time interval of 15 days. No significant differences in final population density were observed for both low moisture treatments compared to control cheeses. Therefore, low humidity treatments are not effective to control A. farris in Cabrales cheese, despite the good results obtained in laboratory assays.     

Oribatid mite predation by small ants of the genus Pheidole

Summary. Using “cafeteria experiments” with forest soil and litter, I obtained evidence that at least some small Neotropical species of Pheidole prey on a wide array of slow-moving invertebrates, favoring those of approximately their own size. The most frequent prey were oribatid mites, a disproportion evidently due in part to the abundance of these organisms. The ants have no difficulty breaking through the calcified exoskeleton of the mites.Received 2 December 2004; revised 18 January 2005; accepted 21 January 2005.     

Multiple Environmental Factor Analysis in Habitats of the Harvest Mite Neotrombicula autumnalis (Acari: Trombiculidae) Suggests Extraordinarily High Euryoecious Biology

The harvest mite Neotrombicula autumnalis (Trombiculidae) has become a great nuisance in various vegetated areas in Germany over the last 15 years. According to reports of dermatologists, this species appears to have propagated and spread significantly. Moreover, cases of severe trombidiosis or trombidiosis-like skin reactions have been noticed at unusually early times of the year. Due to the lack of scientific studies, little is known about the ecology of N. autumnalis and its distribution, and preferred habitats cannot be predicted. A four-year study was conducted to identify trombiculid foci in different areas of Bonn in order (1) to determine the timing of larvae appearance in different years, (2) to identify the factors that lead to high larvae abundances at the mite foci (‘multiple factor analysis’), and (3) to develop an ecological control strategy. By means of the ‘tile catch method’ (TCM) which turned out to be most appropriate to collect data on the distribution and abundances of trombiculid mites, larvae of N. autumnalis were caught from mid July until the end of October/beginning of November. The distribution of the mites was patchy, supporting the hypothesis that certain factors cause a concentration in foci. Most of the mite foci had a fixed location for at least three years. Efforts to isolate nymphs and adults in larger quantities to gain knowledge about their preferred soil areas and soil depths failed. Only some nymphs of N. autumnalis could be found living 10–40 cm deep in the soil. Due to the restriction that the nymphs and adults can only rarely be isolated in the ground, the analysis of environmental factors was executed based on abundances of questing larvae on the soil surface. The detailed analysis of soil-physical, soil-chemical and meso-faunistic factors could not finally explain the unequal distribution of the mites, although the porosity of the soil had a statistically significant slight influence on the abundance of larvae, and soil pH bordered significance, also suggesting a slight influence. Furthermore, soil temperatures during the winter seasons in three subsequent years appeared too high to affect the harvest mite. The field experiments suggest that N. autumnalis and particularly its larval stages are extremely euryoecious (meaning tolerating very different environmental conditions). Further studies are necessary: additional investigations on the influence of certain abiotic environmental factors on N. autumnalis, the search for factors underlying the rhythmicity of its life cycle (‘zeitgeber’), and the reasons and mechanisms for heterogeneous distribution of soil fauna in general. Ecological control of the mite is, in principle, possible but only after identifying the foci and ascertaining their approximate dimensions with the TCM. This control strategy is the most promising one, albeit very laborious, emphasising the need of further research on the ecology of the harvest mite.