Some Effects of Temperature and Relative Humidity on Water-Balance in Females of the Spiny Rat Mite, Echinolaelaps echidninus (Acarina: Laelaptidae)1

Wharton, G. W.; Kanungo, K.

doi:10.1093/aesa/55.5.483

Cited by 41 publications

(5 citation statements)

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“…Use of atmospheric water is well known in a large range of mites (critical equilibrium activity in ao), Acarus siro (0.75 ao; Knfdle, 1962), Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus (0.73 ao; Arlian, 1975), Echinolaelaps echidnina (0.90 ao; Wharton and Kanungo, 1962) and ticks, Amblyomma americanum (0.88 ao; Needham and Teel, 1991), Dermacentor variabilis (0.85 ao; Hair et al, 1975), Ixodes dammini (0.91 ao; Yoder and Spielman, 1993) and others (Kniille and Rudolph, 1982;Hadley, 1994). Females of the hissing-cockroach mite survived off-host at aos 0.93 and 0.97 for at least 1 month without feeding, a feat that is probably due, in part, to their capacity to use effectively atmospheric water when above the critical equilibrium activity.…”

Section: Water Lossmentioning

confidence: 99%

Food and water resources used by the Madagascan hissing-cockroach mite, Gromphadorholaelaps schaeferi

Yoder

Barcelona

1995

Exp Appl Acarol

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We determined the food source and water balance properties of the hissing-cockroach mite, Gromphadorholaelaps schaeferi. The food source for mites was identified using Evans blue dye by direct injection into a fasting host cockroach, Gromphadorhinaponentosa, or by incorporation into cockroach food. No coloration was observed in mites on dye-injected cockroaches, but coloration was present in mites when only the food for the cockroaches had been stained. Thus, the mites are scavengers of cockroach food, and are not parasitic as previously thought. Our results demonstrate that the mites can absorb water from the air anywhere between 0.84 and 0.93 a v (%RH/100), and wax-block experiments revealed that the mouth is the site of uptake. The mites are normally dumped together on the host, typically in between the cockroach's legs and around the spiracles. Water loss rates for mites in groups (0.16% h-1) were far lower than for isolated mites (0.30% h-1), suggesting a 'group effect' with regard to water balance. Above the transition temperature of 30°C rate of water loss was rapid. The sites occupied by mites on the cockroach's body seem to be highly specific for feeding and absorption of water vapour.

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Section: Water Lossmentioning

confidence: 99%

Food and water resources used by the Madagascan hissing-cockroach mite, Gromphadorholaelaps schaeferi

Yoder

Barcelona

1995

Exp Appl Acarol

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“…Within the Acari, this ability can be attributed to glands in the mouth that secrete a hygroscopic ßuid, which absorbs water from the air and is subsequently swallowed (Arlian and Veselica 1979). A relative humidity of 90% was found to be the equilibrium humidity at which the mite Echinolaelaps echidninus (Berlese) neither lost nor gained weight (Wharton and Kanungo 1962). This ability may have an effect on mite survival off-host or in the absence of its food source.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Responses of Ornithonyssus sylviarum (Acari: Macronyssidae) and Menacanthus stramineus (Phthiraptera: Menoponidae) to Gradients of Temperature, Light, and Humidity, With Comments on Microhabitat Selection on Chickens

Halbritter

Mullens²

2011

jnl. med. entom.

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Responses of the northern fowl mite (NFM), Ornithonyssus sylviarum (Canestrini & Fanzago) (Acari: Macronyssidae), and the chicken body louse (CBL), Menacanthus stramineus (Nitzsch) (Phthiraptera: Menoponidae), to variation in temperature, light, and humidity were assessed in bioassays. The location on a continuous thermal gradient at which each ectoparasite arrested was recorded and analyzed. NFM adults arrested at an average temperature of 30.09 +/- 0.34 degrees C. Adult CBL and first-instar CBL nymphs arrested at 33.69 +/- 0.20 degrees C and 34.99 +/- 0.26 degrees C, respectively. Groups of each ectoparasite were placed into clear glass vials (n = 10/vial) with one half shaded, and vials were exposed to three light levels, as follows: high (200 micromolm(-2)s(-1)), low (4 micromolm(-2)s(-1)), and nearly no light (0 micromolm(-2)s(-1)). The vial cap edges provided an opportunity to assess the interactive effect of light with harborage. NFM avoided light and sought harborage. In low light, the harborage preference overrode the tendency to avoid light. CBL avoided the harborage and showed a minimal preference for light. A four-level humidity gradient was established in two separate experimental arenas for NFM and CBL. Trials were run in ambient light (4 micromolm(-2)s(-1)) for the NFM and in nearly no light for the CBL. The NFM gradient used 38 +/- 2%, 54 +/- 7%, 73 +/- 3%, and 90 +/- 4% RH, whereas the CBL gradient used 42 +/- 5%, 48 +/- 7%, 63 +/- 4%, and 73 +/- 5% RH. NFM showed no humidity response in the walking bioassay, but the CBL settled at the lowest humidity level. Temperature and humidity on different hen body regions were related to the bioassay results and observed on-host ectoparasite distributions.

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“…Mites are sensitive to small changes from the relative humidity (Castagnoli and Simoni 1994;Wharton and Kanungo 1962). Rowles and O'Dowd (2009) found that mite reproductive output increased while inhabiting domatia only under low-humidity treatments.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Domatia morphology and mite occupancy of Psychotria horizontalis (Rubiaceae) across the Isthmus of Panama

Richards

Coley

2011

Arthropod-Plant Interactions

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Leaf domatia are small plant structures in vein axials on the undersides of leaves that are often inhabited by mites of several species. The mites are presumed to benefit the plant because they are predatory or fungivorous. The domatia are thought to provide the mites shelter from predators and changes in relative humidity, and in exchange, the mites protect the plant from small herbivores and fungal spores. Differences in relative humidity can affect food availability, changing the interaction between plants and mites. We examined domatium morphology of the shrub Psychotria horizontalis (Rubiaceae) and its associated mite diversity at three sites along the rainfall gradient of the Isthmus of Panama, during the dry and wet seasons. The dry forest had a domatium morphology consistent with providing greater desiccation protection, with trichomes and a smaller domatium opening relative to domatium size (size/opening ratio). Additionally, this size/ opening ratio was significantly higher in the dry season than in the wet season at all three sites. Mite diversity was highest at the intermediate rainfall site with a large degree of overlap with the other sites, whereas the dry site and wet site shared few mite species. More fungivorous mites were present in the moist forests and more facultative feeders on fungal spores and small mites in the dry forest. The average mite size at each site matched the average domatium size at each site. The dry forest had small mites in small domatia, whereas the moist forests had larger mites in larger domatia. While these data are primarily observational, the site and seasonal differences in domatium morphology and mite diversity are consistent with two main hypotheses: (1) that protection from changes in humidity would be particularly important when humidity was low, such as in the dry forest and during the dry season (2) more fungivorous mites would be found in domatia of the moist forests. The data presented here further highlight the close adaptive relationship between leaf domatia on plants and the mites that inhabit them.

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Some Effects of Temperature and Relative Humidity on Water-Balance in Females of the Spiny Rat Mite, Echinolaelaps echidninus (Acarina: Laelaptidae)1

Cited by 41 publications

References 0 publications

Food and water resources used by the Madagascan hissing-cockroach mite, Gromphadorholaelaps schaeferi

Food and water resources used by the Madagascan hissing-cockroach mite, Gromphadorholaelaps schaeferi

Responses of Ornithonyssus sylviarum (Acari: Macronyssidae) and Menacanthus stramineus (Phthiraptera: Menoponidae) to Gradients of Temperature, Light, and Humidity, With Comments on Microhabitat Selection on Chickens

Domatia morphology and mite occupancy of Psychotria horizontalis (Rubiaceae) across the Isthmus of Panama

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