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Abstract
The Poecilochirus carabi species complex consists of several morphologically similar but reproductively-isolated mite species, which reproduce in the brood chambers of burying beetles. In this study, we examine pairing behaviour, oviposition rates and development times of two species of the P. carabi complex that occur sympatrically on German burying beetles. The two species are referred to as ‘species P-vs’ and ‘species P-vo’ because species descriptions have not yet been completed.
We analysed the pairing behaviour of the two sibling species by measuring the durations of four behavioural sequences. In species P-vo, pairing lasted about three times longer than in species P-vs. This difference in pairing duration was caused by differences in the time spent in the venter-to-venter mating position and in the time the pairs stayed together after mating. In the absence of conspecifics, adults of the two sibling species formed heterospecific pairs. The heterospecific pairs needed longer than monospecific pairs before they adopted the mating position. None of them produced offspring. In breeding experiments at 15 and 20°C, females of both mite species laid about 200 eggs. Daily egg production varied from peak values of 30 to 50 eggs day-1 at the beginning of oviposition to one egg day-1 at the end of a females' life. At both temperatures, females in species P-vs deposited their eggs faster and their offspring reached the phoretic deuteronymphal stage earlier than in species P-vo. We discuss pairing duration and egg-laying rates of species P-vs and P-vo in relation to data available in the literature for other mesostigmatic mite species, and discuss possible reasons for the differences in reproductive biology between the two sibling species.
