Parasitus fimetorum Berlese, 1904, family Parasitidae

Bee Mites : Acari : Parasitiformes : Mesostigmata : Parasitidae : Parasitus

Parasitus fimetorum Berlese, 1904

Gamasus fimetorum Berlese, 1904: 238.

Parasitus fimetorum: Hyatt, 1980: 271, Figs 12-14 (his synonymy); Richards, 1976: 741; Richards and Richards, 1976: 1.

Parasitus (Coleogamasus) fimetorum: Tichomirov, 1977: 86, Figs 36,9; 37,9.

Parasitus fimestorum [lapsus pro fimetorum]: Gu et al., 1987: 41.

Phorytocarpais fimetorum: Hennesey and Farrier, 1988: 10, Figs 4-6.

Gamasus posticatus Banks, 1910: 137, Fig. 10, 3,8 (synonymized by Hennesey and Farrier, 1988).

Material. 4 deutonymphs (2 slides) from USA (Michigan) [not processed].

Hosts. (only North American records).
Bombus (Bombus) terricola Kirby, 1837 (as occidentalis)
Bombus (Cullumanobombus) rufocinctus Cresson, 1863
Bombus (Fervidobombus) fervidus (Fabricius, 1798) (as californicus)
Bombus (Fervidobombus) pensylvanicus (De Geer, 1773) (as americanorum) (first record)
Bombus (Pyrobombus) bifarius Cresson, 1878
Bombus (Pyrobombus) flavifrons Cresson, 1863
Bombus (Pyrobombus) frigidus Smith, 1854
Bombus (Pyrobombus) huntii Greene, 1860
Bombus (Pyrobombus) mixtus Cresson, 1878
Bombus (Pyrobombus) ternarius Say, 1837
Bombus (Pyrobombus) vagans Smith, 1854
Bombus (Subterraneobombus) appositus Cresson, 1878
(Richards and Richards, 1976)

Distribution. USA; Michigan; Canada: Alberta; Iceland, British Isles, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy (type locality); Poland; former USSR, including Western Siberia; Iran (beehives); China: Yunnan Prov.; Australia (Gu et al., 1987; Richards 1976; Mosaddegh, 1997; Wallace and Holm, 1985).

Biology. Parasitus fimetorum is a common inhabitant of compost, rotting vegetation, manure, dung, and subterranean nests of small mammals, and also occasionally bumblebee, bird nests, and beehives. Deutonymphs are phoretic on coprophagous and necrophagous beetles, Aphodius, Geotrupes (Coleoptera: Scarabaidae), Nicrophorus (Silphidae), and Atholus (Histeridae). In the United States, Canada, and Europe, this species was found in bumbleebee nests, but not on the bees. Thus, it likely does not have any specific relationships to bumblebees (Hyatt, 1980; Richards, 1976).

References

Banks, N. 1910. New Canadian Mites [Arachnoidea, Acarina]. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington.11: 133-143, pls 10-13.

Berlese, A. 1904. Acari Nuovi. Manipulus I. Redia.1: 235-252.

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.

Hennesey, M. K. & M. H. Farrier. 1988. Systematic revision of the thirty species of free-living, soil-inhabiting gamasine mites (Acari: Mesostigmata) in North America. The North Carolina Agricultural Research Service. Technical Bulletin.285: 1-123.

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.

Mosaddegh, M. S. 1997. Some mites of the honey bee Apis mellifera L. hives in Iran. The Scientific Journal of Agriculture (Shahid Chamran Univ., Ahwaz, Iran).19: 7-16.

Richards, L. A. 1976. Parasitid mites associated with bumblebees in Alberta, Canada (Acarina: Parasitidae; Hymenoptera: Apidae). I. Taxonomy. University of Kansas Science Bulletin.50: 731-773.

Richards, L. A. & K. W. Richards. 1976. Parasitid mites associated with bumblebees in Alberta, Canada (Acarina: Parasitidae; Hymenoptera: Apidae). II. Biology. University of Kansas Science Bulletin.51: 1-18.

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.

Wallace, M. M. H. & E. Holm. 1985. The seasonal abundance of phoretic predatory mites associated with dung beetles in south eastern Australia (Acari: Macrochelidae, Parasitidae). International Journal of Acarology.11: 183-189.