Phoretic relationships between uropodid mites (Acari: Mesostigmata) and centipedes (Chilopoda) in urban agglomeration areas

Abstract

The current study concerns phoresy in uropodid mites on centipedes. Research was conducted for eight months (April–November 2006) in three habitat types, each exposed to different degrees of anthropogenic impact. The centipedes were collected monthly from all accessible microhabitats across the areas studied. We collected a total of 733 lithobiomorph centipedes representing three species. We found 43.8% of these individuals transported a total of 3376 specimens representing one Uropodina superfamily, i.e. phoretic deutonymphs of Oodinychus ovalis (CL Koch, 1839) (18%) and Uroobovella pulchella (Berlese, 1904) (82%). Mites were found on nearly all (99%) studied individuals of Lithobius forficatus (Linnaeus, 1758). The number of deutonymphs on one centipede varied from 1 to 273 specimens. The dynamics of phoresy was different for both uropodid species and each of the studied areas. The two most important factors affecting phoresy of mites on centipedes were the type of a tree stand (presence of particular tree species and probably also afforestation density), and deadwood availability. The degree of anthropogenic impact seems to influence the intensity of carrier infestation. We observed that most of the phoretic deutonymphs were attached to the anterior and middle segments of the carrier’s body.

Keywords:

• phoresy
• evolutionary adaptation
• deadwood
• mites
• lithobiomorph centipedes
• anthropogenic impact

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank to Halina Petrykowska for her help with material collection. We are also very grateful to Jonatan D. Ablett (Natural History Museum, London) for his help with preparation this manuscript in English language.

Additional information

Funding

This study was partly funded by Komitet Badań Naukowych “State Committee for Scientific Research” [No. 3 PO4F 003 23, No. 2 PO4G 122 28 and 2 PO4G 061 29].