Chemical Ecology of Astigmatid Mites : XXXVII. Fatty Acid as Food Attractant of Astigmatid Mites, Its Scope and Limitation

Acarine attractants: Chemoreception, bioassay, chemistry and control

“…Reproduction only occurs after feeding to ensure that adequate nutrients and energy are available for successful mating and egg development. Female mites release female sex pheromone after feeding to attract males for reproduction [73,74]. Currently female sex pheromone and its chemical components have been identified in 9 species of Argasid mites (Table 1): 2-hydroxy-6-methylbenzaldehyde in Acarus immobilis [73], Aleuroglyphus ovatus [74], Cosmoglyphus hughesi [75], and Dermatophagoides farinae [76]; undecane in C. rodriguezi Sams [77]; (2R, 3R)-epoxyneral in Caloglyphus sp.…”

“…Lab exposure of V. destructor in a y-tube bioassay to methyl palmitate resulted in 50% of the tested mites arriving at the chemical source in 30 sec, and 70% after 400 sec [101]. Additionally, the parasitic mites D. farinae , D. pteronyssinus , L. konoi and T. putrescentiae are attracted to saturated and unsaturated fatty acids C 16 –C 18 and methyl esters of C 16 –C 18 [73]. …”

Spatial orientation of the mould mite, Tyrophagus putrescentiae (Schrank) (Acarina: Acaridae), in the computer-programmed olfactory field

“…Mites in many conventional choice-chambers are allowed to make contact directly with sample materials (Yoshizawa et al, 1970;Vanhaelen et al, 1978;Sato et al, 1993). In the present choice-chamber system, mites walking on the ceiling of the lid are prevented from coming into direct contact with the odor-dispenser placed 3 mm below, and are only exposed to the odor emanating from the dispenser.…”

“…This is also true of tiny astigmatid mites, including the mould mite Tyrophagus putrescentiae (Schrank), which track food resources by using olfactory cues. Several attractants have been isolated from the food materials (Yoshizawa et al, 1970;Vanhaelen et al, 1978;Sato et al, 1993). The attractiveness of these chemicals to mites has been demonstrated mainly by conventional choice chambers and equivalent assay methods, where the attractiveness was evaluated as the biased distribution of mites to treatment area from the control (Dethier, 1947;Kennedy, 1977).…”

Chemical recognition of queen cells by honey bee workersApis mellifera (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

“…ML and MP were both identified as an oviposition-regulating pheromone in the butterflies Ostrinia nubilalis (Thiery & Le Quere 1991) and Lobesia botrana (Thiery et al 1992). Recently, it was shown that the methyl esters and the acids of these esters are also attractive for astigmatid mites (Sato et al 1993). MP and LNM produced by honey bee larvae are attractive for the mite Varroa jacobsoni that reproduces on honey bee larvae (Le Conte et al 1989;Rickli et al 1992;Trouiller et al 1992).…”