First report of phoresy by an oribatid mite (Acari: Oribatida) on a triatomine bug (Hemiptera: Reduviidae)

ABSTRACT

A dozen specimens of the oribatid mite Archegozetes magnus (Trhypochthoniidae) were collected from the Chagas disease vector Triatoma dimidiata (Hemiptera: Reduviidae), in Teya, Yucatán, Mexico. This is the first report of phoresy by an oribatid mite on a hemipteran.

KEYWORDS:

• Phoresy
• oribatid mites
• Reduviidae
• Archegozetes magnus
• Triatoma dimidiata

Acknowledgments

We thank all the students who routinely participate in field trips as well as all the inhabitants of Teya for their active participation in the entomological monitoring of triatomines. This work received financial support from CONACYT (National Council of Science and Technology, Mexico), Basic Science (Project ID: CB2015-258752), and National Problems (Project ID: PN2015-893) grants awarded to EW, as well as from ANPCyT (National Agency for Scientific and Technological Promotion, Argentina, PICT Nos. 2014-1536 and 2015-0665).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Mites were identified to species level post-publication, in Beaty et al. 2013.

Additional information

Funding

This work received financial support from CONACYT (National Council of Science and Technology, Mexico, Basic Science (Project ID: CB2015-258752), and National Problems (Project ID: PN2015-893) grants awarded to EW, as well as from ANPCyT (National Agency for Scientific and Technological Promotion, Argentina, PICT Nos. 2014-1536 and 2015-0665)