Genus Tydeus Koch, 1836, family Tydeidae

Bee Mites : Acari : Acariformes : Trombidiformes : Tydeidae

Genus Tydeus Koch, 1836

Tydeus: André, 2005: 978 (diagnosis, new type species proposal) (his synonymy)

Calotydeus Oudemans, 1937: 922 (type species Acarus croceus L., 1758) (synonymized by André, 2005)

Type speices Tydeus spathulatus Oudemans, 1928. Designated by Opinion 2190 ICZN (2008), see Case 3354 (André and Kaźmierski 2006).

General Description. The majority of species of Tydeus are moss inhabitants (Momen and Lundqvist 2005). Some species occur on tree foliage, stored products, vertebrate nests and beehives. They are omnivorous scavengers and can also prey on the smallest arthropods and their eggs (Kaźmierski 2009). Unidentified species of Tydeus were repeatedly collected in beehives throughout the world (Chmielewski 1971, Haragsim et al. 1978, Homann 1933, Kamali et al. 2001, Malabanan and Corpuz-Raros 1998). Tydeus interruptus was found in bumblebee nests in New Zealand (Macfarlane, 2005), Tydeus xylocopae in the nest of a large carpenter bee in Indonesia (Oudemans, 1926).
The taxonomy of this genus is complicated, with many unrecognizable species described by earlier acarologists and the existence of several systematic treatments contradicting each other (André 2005). Major advances were made only recently, when re-examination of type species from Oudemans’ collection was made (André 2005).

Description.

Notes. There is no agreement over the year of the original description of Tydeus Koch. Most workers agree that the first description of Tydeus appeared in "Koch, C.L. Deutschlands Crustaceen, Myriapoden und Arachniden. Ein Beitrag zur deutschen Fauna, Heft 4 (=Heft 137)." The most recent treatment cites the year as 1836 (André, 2005), with a discussion on publication date of Heft 4 - either 1836 or 1837 and the warrant that the year can not be found on the author's personal reprint. Oudemans (1937) gives the same year for Heft 4. However, the Nomenclator Zoologicus online database indicates that Heft 4 had been published in 1837. Kaźmierski (1989) gives 1835 for Tydeus Koch, without explicitly citing the original Koch's work or any further discussion on the matter.

Species associated with bees.

Tydeus interruptus Thor, 1932
Tydeus sp. Haragsim at al., 1978; Malabanan and Corpuz-Raros, 1988; Homann, 1933; Chmielewski, 1971; Kamali at al., 2001
Tydeus xylocopae Oudemans, 1926

References

André, H. M. 2005. In search of the true Tydeus (Acari, Tydeidae). Journal of Natural History.39: 975-1001.

André, H. M. & A. Kaźmierski. 2006. Case 3354. Tydeus Koch, 1836 (Acari): proposed designation of Tydeus spathulatus Oudemans, 1928 as the type species. Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature.63: 236-238.

Chmielewski, W. 1971. The mites (Acarina) found on bumble-bees (Bombus Latr.) and their nests. Ekologia Polska.19: 57-71.

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.

Haragsim, O., K. Samšiňák & E. Vobrázková. 1978. The mites inhabiting the bee hives in ČSR. Zeitschrift für Angewandte Entomologie.87: 52-67.

Homann, H. 1933. Die Milben in gesunden Bienenstöcken. Zeitschrift fur Parasitenkunde.6: 350-415.

ICZN. 2008. OPINION 2190 (Case 3354) Tydeus Koch, 1836 (Arachnida, Acari): Tydeus spathulatus Oudemans, 1928 designated as the type species. Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature.65: 68.

Kamali, K., H. Ostovan & A. Atamehr. 2001. A Catalog of Mites and Ticks (Acari) of Iran. Islamic Azad University Scientific Publication Center. 196 pp.

Kaźmierski, A. 1989. Revision of the genera Tydeus Koch sensu André, Homeotydeus André and Orthotydeus André with description of a new genus and four new species of Tydeinae (Acari: Actinedida: Tydeidae). Mitteilungen aus dem Hamburgischen Zoologischen Museum und Institut.86: 289-314.

Kaźmierski, A. 2009. Three new Tydeinae species (Acari: Actinedida: Tydeidae) from Poland. Annales Zoologici.59: 107-117.

Macfarlane, R. P. 2005. Mites associated with bumble bees (Bombus: Apidae) in New Zealand. Records of the Canterbury Museum.19: 29-34.

Malabanan, J. M. & L. A. Corpuz-Raros. 1998. Mites associated with Apis mellifera Linnaeus and Apis cerana Fabricius in the southern Tagalog region, Philippines. Philippine Entomologist.12: 123-135.

Momen, F. & L. Lundqvist. 2005. The genera Metalorryia and Tydeus (Acari: Prostigmata: Tydeidae), new and unrecorded species from south Sweden. International Journal of Acarology.31: 225-236.

Oudemans, A. C. 1926. Acarologische Aanteekehingen LXXX. Entomologische Berichten (Amsterdam).7: 67-80.

Oudemans, A. C. 1937. Kritisch historich overzicht der acarologie door Dr. A. C. Oudemans. Derde Gedeelte 1805-1850, Band C. Leiden: E. J. Brill. i-xxiii, 799-1348, pp.