Search

A new species, Ficotarsonemus bancroftisp. nov., is described from female and male mites from within the syconium of the sandpaper fig Ficus coronata Spin collected from southeast Queensland, Australia. We summarize records of fig mites (Tarsonemidae: Tarsonemellini) to date and provide a key to genera and species. Paper LSID: Species LSID: [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we conducted a summer sampling of carabid beetles in eastern Australia to identify their associated parasitic mites. Here, we describe three new species of the genus Eutarsopolipus from under the elytra (forewings) of three native carabid species (Coleoptera: Carabidae): Eutarsopolipus paryavae n. sp. (pterostichi group) from Geoscaptus laevissimus Chaudoir; Eutarsopolipus pulcher n. sp. (leytei group) from Gnathaphanus pulcher (Dejean); and Eutarsopolipus chlaenii n. sp. (myzus group) from Chlaenius flaviguttatus Macleay. We further provide an identification key of the world species of pterostichi and leytei species groups as well as closely related species of the myzus group possessing similar characters including short cheliceral stylets. The significant diversity of Eutarsopolipus recovered here suggests that the current knowledge about Australian podapolipid mites (specially Eutarsopolipus) is still in its infancy and deserves further study.

Mites are masters at attaching to larger animals, often insects, in a temporary symbiosis called phoresy that allows these tiny animals to exploit patchy resources. In this article, we examine phoresy in the Acari, including those that feed on their carriers in transit, from a broad perspective. From a phylogenetic perspective, phoresy has evolved several times from free-living ancestors but also has been lost frequently. Rotting logs appear to be the first patchy resource exploited by phoretic mites, but the evolution of rapid life cycles later permitted exploitation of short-lived resources. As phoresy is a temporary symbiosis, most species have off-host interactions with their carrier. These relationships can be highly complex and context dependent but often are exploitative of the carrier's resources or progeny. Transitions from phoresy to parasitism seem widespread, but evidence for transitions from obligate phoretic parasitism to permanent parasitism is weak. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heterostigmatic mites (Heterostigmata) are highly diverse, have symbiotic associations with various insects and occur worldwide. Despite Australia's rich insect biodiversity, little is known about its heterostigmatic mites. In this study, we conducted a preliminary study on heterostigmatic mites associated with beetles in eastern Australia and found four species, of which three were new: Caraboacarus stammeri Krczal, 1959 (Caraboacaridae) and Eutarsopolipus orpheus Katlav & Seeman, sp. nov., (Podapolipidae) associated with Australian‐endemic Gnathaphanus melbournensis (Castelnau, 1867) (Carabidae); Hoplocheylus australiensis Katlav & Seeman, sp. nov., (Tarsocheylidae) phoretic on Australian‐endemic Mastachilus quaestionis (Kuwert, 1891) (Passalidae); and Pavania gazellatris Katlav & Seeman, sp. nov., (Dolichocybidae) phoretic on introduced Digitonthophagus gazella (Fabricius, 1787) (Scarabaeidae). The species of Caraboacaridae, Dolichocybidae and Tarsocheylidae are the first species records of these families in Australia. It is likely that two of the three new species are Australian endemics, while P. gazellatris may be a more recent arrival on introduced dung beetles, possibly arriving with imports of exotic adult dung beetles. Furthermore, we provide an overview of the heterostigmatic mite fauna of Australia that consists of less than 90 species belonging to 13 families, with representatives of all known seven superfamilies. These mites have so far been mostly reported on beetles but also on other insect orders (Blattodea, Diptera, Hemiptera, Hymenoptera, Orthoptera, Thysanoptera). Our findings of three new species and one new record based on the analysis of a relatively small number of specimens and beetle species suggest that more comprehensive studies of host insect taxa will reveal a substantially larger Australian diversity of heterostigmatic mites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined a dataset of body sizes comprising 3209 species of Mesostigmata to test two hypotheses regarding body size patterns: that species living in symbiotic relationships differ in size compared with those that are free-living, and that mite species show geographic body size gradients. We found that Mesostigmata in symbiotic relationships are considerably larger than those that are free-living, but the type of symbiosis (commensal versus parasitic) had little influence on body size. We also found that free-living mite species fit a Bergmann size cline (larger species in cool climates), but mite species in commensal relationships show a converse Bergmann size cline (larger species in warm climates) while no pattern was found for parasitic species. These results fit a resource-based explanation for both patterns. We hypothesize that animals that use more easily obtainable resources grow larger, through resource pulses in temperate zones for free-living mites and use of concentrated resources for commensal and parasitic species. Available microhabitats could also promote smaller sizes in free-living Mesostigmata: i.e. soil and plants offer more and smaller microhabitats to exploit and are hence occupied by smaller species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Megisthanus leviathanicussp. nov. is described from the passalid beetleMastachilus australasicusfrom Australia. The adult male is the largest of all known Mesostigmata with one specimen measuring 5.05 mm in length. The sexes are dimorphic: female mites are smaller, have numerous elongate setae, and a lyriform dorsal shield, while the major males have minute dorsal setae and a subovate dorsal shield. Some minor males (n = 4/48) resemble the female in having numerous elongate dorsal setae. Usually only one major male was found on a beetle, but rarely a minor male also occurred, suggesting that a major male defends a beetle and that minor males share access to females. Both sexes had considerable variation in the secondary sclerotization around their dorsal shields. This variation requires some adjustments to the current taxonomy. HereinMegisthanus caudatusis considered a senior synonym ofM. brachyurussyn. nov.andM. testudosyn. nov., asM. brachyurusis based on a female without secondary sclerotization andM. testudoon the male ofM. caudatus. The Australian speciesMegisthanus thorelli, and the North American speciesMegisthanus floridanus, are diagnosed. The diagnostic character states for megisthanid species are explored, especially the female’s internal genitalia. http://www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:FB6B6509-64A6-4454-8B58-F412FA2833C1 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]