Pyemotes ventricosus, from nest of Anthophora retusa, England (after Newport, 1853) title=
Fig. 1. Pyemotes ventricosus, from nest of Anthophora retusa, England (after Newport, 1853). Click to enlarge

Bee Mites : Acari : Acariformes : Trombidiformes : Pyemotidae : Pyemotes
 

 
Pyemotes ventricosus (Newport, 1850)


Heteropus ventricosus Newport, 1850: 71; Newport, 1853: 101, Figs. 1-9 (see Notes).


Notes. Pyemotes ventricosus, the type species of the genus, is poorly described and probably was misidentified by subsequent workers. Oudemans (1937) speculated that the fungal disease of the bee larvae reported by Frison (1923) for Anthophora abrupta Say, 1837 in the United States, is in fact physogastric females of Pyemotes ventricosus. Lichtenstein (1875) reported "Heteropus ventricosus" from larvae of Anthidiellum strigatum (Panzer, 1805) (as Anthidium strigatum Panz) and Osmia sp. and other insects. Brucker (1900) reported a mite identified as P. ventricosus parasitizing Anthophora fulvitarsis Brullé, 1832 along with beetles of the genus Anobium and Eumeles wasps in France. Earlier beekeeping literature report this species attacking developing larvae of the European honeybee, and, in some cases, destroying an entire bee colony in three days (Goodacre 1938). For example, P. ventricosus was recorded from bee’s larvae and pupae in Tunisia (Brucker, 1900), in France on worker bees and drones (Suire 1930), on bee larvae died from the sacbrood disease in Switzerland (Morgenthaler 1922), in Germany (Borchert 1966), former Czechoslovakia (Rytíř 1937), Poland (Banaszak 1980, Chmielewski 1991, Tomaszewska and Zahaczewska 1973), Bulgaria, the former USSR (Grobov, 1978), and Australia on adults, pupae, and larvae (Goodacre 1938). However, Cross and Moser (1975) suggested that Pyemotes ventricosus is only known from the original description and has never been recollected. Pyemotes anobii or P. tritici amy be involved here (Eickwort 1990).


Hosts. Anthophora retusa (Linnaeus, 1758) (see Notes)

Distribution. England (see Notes).

References
Banaszak, J. 1980. Badania nad fauną towarzyszącą w zasiedlonych ulach pszczelich [Investigations of the fauna associated in bee-hives] Fragmenta Faunistica (Warsaw).25: 127-177.
Borchert, A. 1966. Die Krankheiten und Schädlinge der Honigbiene. Leinen S. Hirzel. 428 pp.
Brucker, E. A. 1900. Monographie de Pediculoides ventricosus Newport et théorie des pièces buccales des Acariens. Lille: Imprimerie L. Daniel. 422 pp.
Chmielewski, W. 1991. Roztocze (Acarida) pszczoly miodnej (Apis mellifera L.) w Polsce [Mites (Acarida) of honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) in Poland]. Wiadomosci Parazytologiczne.37: 91-94.
Cross, E. A. & J. S. Moser. 1975. A new, dimorphic species of Pyemotes and a key to previously-described forms (Acarina: Tarsonemoidea). Annals of the Entomological Society of America.68: 723-732.
Eickwort, G. C. 1990. Mites: An Overview. In Honey Bee Pests, Predators and Diseases, 2nd edition, eds. R. Morse & R. Nowogrodzki, 188-199. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
Goodacre, W. A. 1938. The grain itch mite (Pediculoides ventricosus) - a casual parasite of the bee. The agricultural gazette of New South Wales.49: 159-160.
Grobov, O. F. 1978. Kleshchi medonosnoy pchely (Apis mellifera L.): ikh znachenie i osnovnue printsypy bor'by s kleschchevymi porazheniyami [=Mites of the honeybee (Apis mellifera L.): their significance and main principles of control of diseases caused by mites]. Doctor of Sciences (Habilitation) Thesis. 536. Moscow: All-Union Institute of Experimental Veterinary, All-Union Academy of Agricultural Sciences.
Lichtenstein, J. 1875. in seance, 23 June. Annales de Ia Societe Entomologique de France, Bulletin des Seances et Bulletin Bibliographique.5: CXXVIII.
Morgenthaler, O. 1922. Zum Kapitel Bienen und Milben. Archiv für Bienenkunde.4: 45-52
Newport, G. 1850. Further observations on the habits of Monodontomerus; with some account of a new Acarus, Heteropus ventricosus, a parasite in the nests of Anthophora retusa. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London.2: 70-71.
Newport, G. 1853. Further observations on the habits of Monodontomerus; with some account of a new Acarus (Heteropus ventricosus), a parasite in the nests of Anthophora retusa. The Transactions of the Linnean Society of London.21: 95-102.
Oudemans, A. C. 1937. No title. Tijdschrift voor Entomologie.80: IV-XVI.
Rytíř, J. 1937. O nemocech a škůdcích včely medonosné. Praha: ZŮVS. 120 pp.
Suire, J. 1930. Parasitisme de Pediculoides ventricosus Newp. aux depens du couvain. Apiculteur.74: 76-79.
Tomaszewska, B. & M. Zahaczewska. 1973. Niektóre gatunki roztoczy występujące u pszczół i w środowisku ulowym oraz ich zwalczanie. Pszczelarstwo.24: 3-4.



Image Gallery
Pyemotes ventricosus, from nest of Anthophora retusa, England (after Newport, 1853)
mite



 

 

B. OConnor and P. Klimov ©
Created: April 30, 2012
Last modified: