Leptus ariel (Erythraeidae), larva, dorsal view (modified from Southcott, 1989) title=
Fig. 1. Leptus ariel (Erythraeidae), larva, dorsal view (modified from Southcott, 1989). Click to enlarge

Bee Mites : Acari : Acariformes : Trombidiformes : Erythraeidae

 
Genus Leptus  Latreille, 1796


Leptus Latreille, 1796: 177 (type species "Acarus Phalangii Gée. Fab" (=Leptus phalangii (De Geer, 1778)) by monotypy) (for synonymy and discussion about the type species designation see Southcott, 1961 and 1992)


Type speices Acarus phalangii De Geer, 1778 by monotypy (recently redescribed by Mąkol et al., 2011)


Notes. Vercammen-Grandjean (1973) wrongly cites the year of the original proposal of Leptus as 1756.

Species associated with bees.


Biology. Larvae of Leptus are known to parasitize different terrestrial arthropods. Two described species of this large genus occur on bees: Leptus ariel Southcott, 1989 was found on the European honey bee in Guatemala. Leptus monteithi Southcott, 1993 was described from a colletid bee Leioproctus sp. (Hymenoptera: Colletidae) from Australia (Tasmania) (Southcott, 1993) . Unidentified species were reported from the European honeybee in Peru (Cerro de Pasco) and Colombia (Fletchtmann, 1980; Losada, 1947; Southcott, 1989; 1993), and the USA (Wilson et al., 1990).

References
Fletchtmann, C. H. W. 1980. Dois acaros associados a abelha Apis mellifera L. no Peru. Anais da Escola Superior de Agricultura "Luiz de Queiroz".37.
Latreille, P. A. 1796. Précis des caractères génériques des insectes: disposés dans un ordre naturel. Brive: del'Imprimerie de F. Bourdeaux. 192 pp.
Losada, B. S. 1947. Nuevas especies para Colombia: localizadas por primera vez por la sección de entomología. Revista Facultad Nacional de Agronomía, Medellín.7: 325-332.
Mąkol, J., G. Gabryś & J. Łaydanowicz. 2011. Leptus phalangii (De Geer, 1778) (Acari: Actinotrichida: Prostigmata) - Redescription, ecology and taxonomic notes on its relatives. Annales Zoologici.61: 535-546.
Southcott, R. V. 1961. Studies on the systematics and biology of the Erythraeoidea (Acarina), with a critical revision of the genera and subfamilies. Australian Journal of Zoology.9: 367-611.
Southcott, R. V. 1989. A larval mite (Acarina: Erythraeidae) parasitizing the European honey bee in Guatemala. Acarologia.30: 123-129.
Southcott, R. V. 1992. Revision of the larvae of Leptus Latreille (Acarina: Erythraeidae) of Europe and North America, with descriptions of post-larval instars. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society.105: 1-153.
Southcott, R. V. 1993. Larvae of Leptus (Acarina: Erythraeidae) ectoparasitic on higher insects of Australia and New Guinea. Invertebrate Taxonomy.7: 1473-1550.
Vercammen-Grandjean, P. H. 1973. Sur les statuts de la famille des Trombidiidae Leach, 1815 (Acarina: Prostigmata). Acarologia.15: 102-114.



Image Gallery
Leptus ariel (Erythraeidae), larva, dorsal view (modified from Southcott, 1989)
Leptus ariel



 

 

B. OConnor and P. Klimov ©
Created: April 27, 2012
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