Linked seasonality between a phoretic mite and its moth fly host (Parasitiformes: Mesostigmata and Diptera: Psychodidae)

Abstract

Phoresy is a widespread phenomenon in mites. It allows mesostigmatid mites that are associated with ephemeral habitats such as mammal dung to travel fast on larger animals that can detect a proper habitat from a greater distance. To address the gap in knowledge on phoresy in these mites, we examined host specificity in phoretic Mesostigmata associated with psychodid species and studied temporal dynamics to see if phoretic life cycles are synchronized with the host life cycle. Using a field collection of more than 2500 moth flies (Psychodidae) from eight localities in Norway, we found three out of 29 species carrying phoretic mites of two species: deutonymphs of Trachygamasus ambulacralis were phoretic on female Psychoda phalaenoides and both sexes of Psychoda grisescens, and adults of Iphidozercon gibbus were phoretic on females of Psychoda satchelli. All flies were species with larval development in vertebrate dung. Abundances of P. phalaenoides and T. ambulacralis were highly correlated, probably due to the two species exhibiting similar seasonal variations in abundance; both were significantly seasonal with a peak in August and September. Thus, T. ambulacralis infestation levels on P. phalaenoides appeared similar throughout the season. We discuss the implications for the life histories of the mites in question. Trachygamasus ambulacralis is first time recorded from Norway.

Inclusion of juvenile stages improves diversity assessment and adds to our understanding of mite ecology – A case study from mires in Norway

“…Full names of the mites are given in Table 2 and Appendix S1 , while in the figures, abbreviations are used. The new records of Mesostigmata for Norway refer to the most recent checklist (Gwiazdowicz & Gulvik, 2005a ) and later references (Bolger, Devlin, & Seniczak, 2018 ; Castilho et al, 2015 ; Gwiazdowicz et al, 2013 ; Gwiazdowicz & Gulvik, 2005b , 2007 ; Kaczmarek et al, 2021 ; Kvifte et al, 2022 ; Neves Esteca et al, 2020 ; Seniczak, Bolger, Roth, et al, 2019 ; Seniczak, Niedbała, Iturrondobeitia, et al, 2021 ; Seniczak, Seniczak, Graczyk, et al, 2021 ; Seniczak, Seniczak, Iturrondobeitia, et al, 2020 ; Seniczak, Seniczak, Schwarzfeld, et al, 2020 ; Seniczak, Seniczak, Starý, et al, 2021 ; Słomian et al, 2005 ; Thunes et al, 2021 ; Venancio et al, 2016 ) while those of Trombidiformes are based on the checklist of Mehl ( 1979 ) and Stålstedt et al ( 2019 ). The new records of Sarcoptiformes for Norway are based on the checklists of Mehl ( 1979 ) and Seniczak, Seniczak, Iturrondobeitia, et al ( 2020 ); Seniczak, Seniczak, Schwarzfeld, et al ( 2020 ).…”

Feeding Behaviour of the Mite Blattisocius mali on Eggs of the Fruit Flies Drosophila melanogaster and D. hydei

“…(4) The mean time of the second attack and partial egg consumption refers only to eggs that were attacked and consumed twice. (5) The mean time of pause after attack and egg consumption refers to the time spent by the predator in pause after feeding on each egg until either the same or another egg was attacked, or until the end of a 10-h observation session. The mean time was estimated for all records of predator attack and egg consumption or pauses noted in each fruit fly species.…”

“…Many mesostigmatic predatory mites use insects for dispersal to habitats that are potentially rich in food but discontinuous and ephemeral habitats [1,2]. These mite-insect associations can be phoretic, where a mite is entirely passive while being attached to its host [3][4][5]. Not infrequently, however, the mite feeds on insects during transportation, and, as an ectoparasite, it can exert a negative impact on their fitness [6][7][8][9].…”