Can we use the social media for acarological research? The case of the phalaenopsis mite (Tenuipalpus pacificus Baker, 1945) (Acari: Tenuipalpidae) in Hungary

ABSTRACT

We used social media to solicit observations of an invasive orchid pest, the phalaenopsis mite (Tenuipalpus pacificus Baker, 1945). We asked for suspected specimens of the mite from the public using two Facebook-groups and one Facebook-page. Eight leaf samples, highly infested by Tenuipalpus pacificus Baker, 1945, were sent to us by orchid owners. Despite the low number of submitted samples, this study still resulted in recording several new sites of occurrences of the pest.

KEYWORDS:

• Flat mite
• invasive species
• social media
• new records
• Hungary

Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the János Bolyai Research Scholarship of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (JK) and by EFOP-3.6.3- VEKOP-16-2017-00008 project (EK). The project was co-financed by the European Union and the European Social Fund. We are very grateful to Dr. Heather Proctor and Dr Jason Dunlop for their linguistic corrections of the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the János Bolyai Research Scholarship of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (JK); EFOP-3.6.3- VEKOP-16-2017-00008 project (EK); European Union and the European Social Fund.