Genus Diadasiopus OConnor, 1997, family Acaridae

Fig. 1. Diadasiopus eickworti, phoretic deutonymph, ex Diadasia opuntiae, USA: California, BMOC 91-0402-002 Click to enlarge

Bee Mites : Acari : Acariformes : Sarcoptiformes : Acaridae

Genus Diadasiopus OConnor, 1997

Diadasiopus OConnor, 1997: 29 (type species Diadasiopus eickworti; description based on HDNs; discussion of systematic position; placed in Horstiinae); OConnor & Daneshvar, 1999: 207 (description of HDNs of D. alexanderi); OConnor, 2001: 78 (inferred as basal Horstiinae; cophylogenetic analysis with hosts; report of rare occurrences on Anthophora); Klimov &OConnor 2009: 98 (part of monophyletic group including Acarus, Kuzinia, Tyrophagus, Mycetoglyphus (Acaridae: Acarini and Tyrophagini) based on unpublished molecular phylogeny).

Type species Diadasiopus eickworti OConnor, 1997, by original designation.

Distribution (show map). New World.

Hosts. Associated with bees of the genus Diadasia and rarely Anthophora (Apidae) (OConnor, 2001).

Notes. Known from phoretic deutonymphs, are adults collected but not described. Molecular phylogenetic analysis calls for reconsidering morphology-based placement of this genus in Horstiinae. The following apomorphic character states joining Diadasiopus with Horstiinae should be re-evaluated: the rounded subcapitular remnant and striate pattern on the dorsal idiosoma (OConnor, 1997).

Species included

Diadasiopus alexanderi OConnor and Daneshvar, 1999 (Acaridae)
Diadasiopus eickworti OConnor, 1997 (Acaridae)

Key to species of Diadasiopus
phoretic deutonymphs
1 Idiosomal dorsal setae mostly spiniform. Setae vi and ve subequal. Setae 1a distinctly longer than 3a. Setae aa I present. Posterior medial extensions of anterior apodeme free. Claw and ambulacra on tarsus IV present. USA (Arizona and California) ... Diadasiopus eickworti OConnor, 1997
- Idiosomal dorsal setae filiform. Setae vi twice as long as ve. Setae 1a and 3a subequal. Posterior medial extensions of anterior apodeme IV forming median apodeme. Setae aa I absent. Claw and ambulacra on tarsus IV absent. Chile ... Diadasiopus alexanderi OConnor and Daneshvar, 1999

References

Klimov, P. B. & B. M. OConnor. 2009. Conservation of the name Tyrophagus putrescentiae, a medically and economically important mite species (Acari: Acaridae). International Journal of Acarology.35: 95-114.

OConnor, B. M. 1997. Two new mites (Acari: Acaridae) associated with long-tongued bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in North America. Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society.69: 15-34.

OConnor, B. M. 2001. Historical ecology of the Acaridae (Acari): phylogenetic evidence for host and habitat shifts. In Acarology: Proceedings of the 10th International Congress, eds. R. B. Halliday, D. E. Walter, H. C. Proctor, R. A. Norton & M. J. Colloff, 76-82. Collingwood: CSIRO Publishing.

OConnor, B. M. & G. Daneshvar. 1999. A new species of Diadasiopus (Acari: Acaridae) associated with Diadasia chiliensis (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in Chile. University of Kansas Museum of Natural History Special Publication.24: 207-210.