Genus Vulgarogamasus Tichomirov, 1969, family Parasitidae

Bee Mites : Acari : Parasitiformes : Mesostigmata : Parasitidae

Genus Vulgarogamasus Tichomirov, 1969

Parasitus (Vulgarogamasus) Tichomirov, 1969a: 1335 (Type species Parasitus (Vulgarogamasus) burchanensis Oudemans, 1903 = Parasitus burchanensis Oudemans, 1903 by original designation); Tichomirov, 1977: 61.

Vulgarogamasus: Hyatt, 1980: 290; El-Banhawy and Nasr, 1986: 71.

Type speices Parasitus (Vulgarogamasus) burchanensis Oudemans, 1903 = Parasitus burchanensis Oudemans, 1903 by original designation

General Description. This genus includes 39 described species distributed in the New and Old World (Bai et al., 1995; Bai et al., 1991; El-Banhawy and Nasr, 1986; Hyatt, 1980; Gu and Guo, 1997; Gu and Huang, 1993; Gu et al., 1987; Karg, 1998; Ma, 1987; Ma, 1990; Ma et al., 2002; Ma-Liming and Wang-Shenron, 1996; Tichomirov, 1969a; Tseng, 1995; Ye and Ma, 1996; Ye et al., 1996). Many species of the genus are habitat generalists living in dung, decaying seaweed, forest litter, poultry litter, moss, and nests of small mammals and birds. One species, Vulgarogamasus sphecophilus (Cooreman, 1945), is restricted to the nests of wasps. Vulgarogamasus pollinerus El-Banhawy et Nasr, 1984 has been previously known only from a bee hive in Ithaca, New York. We found this species on bumblebees and in their nests. Vulgarogamasus cornutosimilis (Schweizer, 1949) (=Parasitus cornutosimilis (Karg, 1985; Micherdzinski, 1969)) is a little-known species described from Switzerland from Bombus terrestris and then recorded from Romania (forest litter) (Stănescu and Gwiazdowicz, 2004). Its two-pronged tectum resembles that of V. pollinerus. Finally, Vulgarogamasus aff. kraepelini was reported from honeybees in the Czech Republic (Haragsim et al., 1978)

Species found in association with bees.

Vulgarogamasus aff. kraepelini (Berlese, 1904)
Vulgarogamasus cornutosimilis (Schweizer, 1949)
Vulgarogamasus pollinerus El-Banhawy and Nasr, 1984

References

Bai, X., L. Fang & S. Yin. 1995. A new species of the genus Vulgarogamasus from China (Acari: Parasitidae). Acta Zootaxonomica Sinica.20: 182-184.

Bai, X., Y. Gu & B. Chen. 1991. A new species of Vulgarogamasus (Acari: Parasitidae). Acta Zootaxonomica Sinica.16: 74-78.

El-Banhawy, E. M. & A. K. Nasr. 1984[1986]. Incidence of mites in bee hives in the State of New York with descriptions of two new species. Zoological Society of Egypt Bulletin.34: 76-82.

Gu, Y. & X. Guo. 1997. A new species of the genus Vulgarogamasus (Acari: Parasitidae). Acta Zootaxonomica Sinica.22: 134-136.

Gu, Y. & C. Huang. 1993. Mites of the subfamily Parasitinae from Shaanxi Province with descriptions of three new species (Acari: Parasitidae). Acta Zootaxonomica Sinica.18: 177-183.

Gu, Y., C. Wang, X. Yang & F. Li. 1987. Mites of the subfamily Parasitidae in China with descriptions of three new species (Acarina: Parasitidae). Acta Zootaxonomica Sinica.12: 40-49.

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

Hyatt, K. H. 1980. Mites of the subfamily Parasitinae (Mesostigmata: Parasitidae) in the British Isles. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) Zoology.38: 237-378.

Karg, W. 1998. To the knowledge of the Eugamasides Karg with new species from the rain-forests of Ecuador (Acarina, Parasitiformes). Mitteilungen aus dem Museum fuer Naturkunde in Berlin Zoologische Reihe.74: 185-214.

Ma, L. 1990. Three new species of the subfamily Parasitinae (Acarina: Parasitidae) from Jilin Province, China. Entomotaxonomia.12: 61-68.

Ma, L., J. Liu & S. Cui. 2002. A new species of the genus Vulgarogamasus and a new species of the genus Hypoaspis (Acari: Gamasina: Parasitidae, Laelapidae). Acta Zootaxonomica Sinica.27: 735-773.

Ma, L. & S. Wang. 1996. Four new species of the family Parasitidae and discovery of the genus Trachygamasus in China (Acari: Mesostigmata). Acta Arachnologica Sinica.5: 81-88.

Micherdzinski, W. 1969. Die Familie Parasitidae Oudemans, 1901 (Acarina, Mesostigmata). Krakow: Panstwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe. 690 pp.

Stănescu, M. & D. J. Gwiazdowicz. 2004. Preliminary research on Mesostigmata mites (Acari) from a spruce forest in the Bucegi massif in Romania. Acta Scientiarum Polonorum, Silv. Calendar.Rat. Ind. Lignar.3: 79-84.

Tichomirov, S. I. 1969. [Morphological and ecological structure of the genus Parasitus sensu Micherdzinski, 1966 (Gamasoidea, Parasitidae). I. Subgenera Eugamasus Berl., Parasitus Latr., Vulgarogamasus subgen. n.]. Zoologicheskiy Zhurnal.48: 1325-1336.

Tichomirov, S. I. 1977. Family Parasitidae. In [Opredelitel' obytayshchikh v pochve kleshchey Mesostigmata = Identification key to soil-inhabiting mites Mesostigmata], eds. M. S. Gilarov & N. G. Bregetova, 55-107. Leningrad: Nauka.