Bee Mites - Ereynetidae: Ereynetes boharti, Ereynetes meliponae

Fig. 1. The mite Ereynetes boharti (Ereynetidae) from nests of Nomia melanderi. Modified from Hunter and Cross (1968)

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Family Ereynetidae Oudemans, 1931

This family includes 11 genera grouped in three subfamilies (Kethley, 1982). Species of Erynetinae (Ereynetes) are free-living predators in mosses, lichens, leaf litter, and under bark. Other ereynetines, Riccardoella Berlese, 1923, are obligate pulmonary parasites of terrestrial slugs, or in the genus Hydranetes, subelytral parasites of aquatic beetles. All stages, except the prelarva, are mobile in Ereynetinae. The subfamily Lawrencarinae includes parasites of the nasal passages of frogs and toads. The tritonymph was thought to be missing in the Lawrencarinae (Fain, 1972). The missing nymph of Lawrencarinae was, however, discovered later (André and Fain, 2000). The subfamily Speleognathinae contains nasal parasites of birds and mammals. In the speleognathine development, the three nymphal stages are calyptostatic, without any structures other than pharynx and the larva gives rise to the adult (Fain, 1972).

Genus Ereynetes Berlese, 1883

Ereynetes Berlese, 1883: tav. 21 (type species Acarus limacum non Linnaeus, 1758 (=Ereynetes galeatus Berlese, 1923) by original designation); Hunter et Cross, 1968: 155; Fain and Camerik, 1994: 153 (Their synonymy).

This genus includes five subgenera and 51 species free-living predators that live in mosses, lichens, leaf litter, bat guano, dung, scarabaeid beetles, nests of mammals and birds, rotting wood, galleries of bark beetles and under bark (Fain and Camerik, 1994). Two subgenera and two species have been found in nests of bees.

Key to subgenera and species of Ereynetes associated with bees

1. Eyes present. (subgenus Ereynetes). Genual seta k'' (nude satellite seta of ereynetal organ) about 2 times shorter than l'' (pectinated seta, associated with k'') ... Ereynetes boharti

- Eyes absent. (subgenus Anereynetes Fain, 1964). Genual seta k'' (nude satellite seta of ereynetal organ) almost as long as l'' (pectinated seta, associated with k'') ... Ereynetes meliponae

Ereynetes (Ereynetes) boharti Hunter et Cross, 1968

Ereynetes (Ereynetes) boharti Hunter and Cross, 1968: 156, Fig. 1; Fain and Camerik, 1994: 151.

Biology. This species has been collected only once, from artificial nests of the bee Nomia melanderi (Halictidae) containing many dead prepupae and mites of the genera Sancassania and Anoetus and the family Rhodacaridae. Probably, the normal habitat of this species is soil surface and the mites are able to invade the artificial nests because of relatively free access to the cells made possible by the type of nest construction (Hunter and Cross, 1968). The species probably is a predator, like others representatives of Ereynetes.
Hosts. Nomia melanderi Cockerell, 1906 (Halictidae).
Distribution. USA: Wyoming.

Ereynetes (Anereynetes) meliponae Flechtmann, Fain, do Carmo et Leal, 1985

Ereynetes (Gymnereynetes) meliponae Flechtmann et al., 1985: 95, Figs 1-8.
Ereynetes (Anereynetes) meliponae: Fain and Camerik, 1994: 151; André and Fain, 2000.

Biology. Collected once in a nest of Melipona scutellaris. A larva and prelarva were found inside females.
Hosts. Melipona scutellaris Latreille, 1811 (Apidae: Meliponini).
Distribution. Brazil: Pernambuco.

References

André H. M. and Fain A. 2000. Phylogeny, ontogeny and adaptive radiation in the superfamily Tydeoidea (Acari: Actinedida), with a reappraisal of morphological characters. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 130: 405-448.

Berlese A. 1883. Acari, Myriapoda et Scorpiones hucusque in Italia Reperta, Patavii, fasc. 5(1-2), tav. 21-22.

Fain A. 1972. Développement postembryonnaire chez les Acariens de la sous-famille Speleognathinae (Ereynetidae: Trombidiformes). Acarologia. 13(4): 607-614.

Fain A., Camerik A. M. 1994. Notes on the mites of the genus Ereynetes Berlese (Acari: Ereynetinae), with description of five new species from South Africa. Bulletin de l'Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique Entomologie. 64: 145-164.

Flechtmann C. H. W., Fain A., do Carmo A., Leal M. 1985. Acari domum meliponinarum brasiliensium habitantes. VII. Ereynetes (Gymnereynetes) meliponae nov. spec. (Acari, Ereynetidae). Revista Brasileira de Biologia 45(1-2): 95-99.

Hunter P. E. and Cross E. A. 1968. Key to North American Ereynetinae and description of a new species (Acarina: Ereynetinae). Journal of the Georgia Entomological Society 3: 154-158.

Kethley, J. 1982. Prostigmata. In: S. P. Parker [Ed.] Synopsis and Classification of Living Organisms. McGraw-Hill, New York. 117-145 pp.