Genus Proctolaelaps Berlese, 1923, family Ascidae

Proctolaelaps longisetosus, female, ex Bombus fervidus, USA: Ohio, BMOC 02-0706-001 title=

Fig. 1. Proctolaelaps longisetosus, female, ex Bombus fervidus, USA: Ohio, BMOC 02-0706-001. Click to enlarge

Bee Mites : Acari : Parasitiformes : Mesostigmata : Ascidae

Genus Proctolaelaps Berlese, 1923

Proctolaelaps Berlese, 1923: 255 (type species Proctolaelaps productus Berlese, 1923 by monotypy); Halliday et al., 1998 (their synonymy).

Garmania (Garmaniella) Westerboer, 1963: 411 (type species Garmania (Garmaniella) longisetosa Westerboer, 1963 by original designation). Synonymized by Lindquist and Evans (1965).

Type species Proctolaelaps productus Berlese, 1923 by monotypy.

Material (show database records).

General Description. The genus Proctolaelaps includes nearly 90 described species. They occur in association with bark beetles, bumblebees and other insects, in nests of birds and mammals, in flowers visited by hummingbirds, in various decaying organic substances, or are synanthropic. Some species feed on small arthropods (including acarid mites), nematodes, fungi, or pollen (Nawar, 1992). Adults of other species are phoretic on insects, although Proctolaelaps nauphoetae (Womersley, 1956) is parasitic in all instars on cockroaches (Egan and Moss, 1969). Many species are cosmopolitan (Halliday et al., 1998).
Five species were recorded in association with nests of bumblebees or phoretic on the adult insects in Europe, Siberia, and Kuril Islands (Davydova, 1988; Karg, 1971; Klimov, 1998; Westerboer, 1963). All of them, except for Proctolaelaps sibiriensis (Davydova, 1988), were found in North America. Proctolaelaps pygmaeus, a widespread species living in a variety of habitats, including honeybee hives, is also given in the key below. In addition, Proctolaelaps bickleyi (Bram, 1956), Proctolaelaps scolyti Evans, 1958, and several unidentified Proctolaelaps species were reported from beehives in Iran (Kamali et al., 2001).

Distribution (show map).

Identification. See key to genera here.

Species associated with bees

Proctolaelaps bickleyi (Bram, 1956) [Apis]
Proctolaelaps bombophilus (Postner in Westerboer, 1963) [Bombus]
Proctolaelaps longanalis (Westerboer, 1963) [Bombus]
Proctolaelaps longisetosus (Postner in Westerboer, 1963) (=Proctolaelaps novineus El-Banhawy and Nasr, 1986) [Bombus]
Proctolaelaps ornatus (Postner in Westerboer, 1963) [Bombus]
Proctolaelaps pygmaeus (Muller, 1859) [Apis Bombus]
Proctolaelaps scolyti Evans, 1958 (=Proctolaelaps ulmi Hirsch) [Apis]
Proctolaelaps sibiriensis (Davydova, 1988) [Bombus]

Key to species of the genus Proctolaelaps found on bees and bee nests in North America
females

Fixed digit of chelicera with 1-2 teeth. Anus smaller, not exceeding height of tibia IV. Posterior edge of anus placed in anterior half of anal shield

... 2

Fixed digit of chelicera with numerous teeth. Anus large, exceeding height of tibia IV. Posterior edge of anus placed in posterior half of anal shield

... 4

2(1)

Postanal and anal setae subequal. Dorsal idiosoma coarsely sculptured, with pattern forming 3 impressed longitudinal rows. Dorsal setae short distinctly not reaching bases of subsequent setae. Anal shield length and width almost equal ... Proctolaelaps ornatus

Postanal seta distinctly longer than anal setae. Dorsal idiosoma not coarsely sculptured, without 3 impressed longitudinal rows. Dorsal setae longer, exceeding or almost reaching bases of subsequent setae. Anal shield distinctly longer than width

... 3

3(2)

Dorsal idiosomal setae exceeding bases of subsequent setae approximately by 1/3 of their length. Setae J1-4 longer than 60 micrometers ... Proctolaelaps longisetosus

Dorsal idiosomal setae not exceeding bases of subsequent setae or if exceeding then less than by 1/3 of their length. Setae J1-4 shorter than 60 micrometers ... Proctolaelaps bombophilus

4(1)

Anterior hypostomal setae not wider than other hypostomal setae. Anal and epigynial shield narrowly separated. Corniculi directed inward ... Proctolaelaps longanalis

Anterior hypostomal setae distinctly wider than other hypostomal setae. Anal and epigynial shield well separated. Corniculi almost parallel to each other ... Proctolaelaps pygmaeus

References

Berlese, A. 1923. Centuria sesta di Acari nuovi. Redia.15: 237-262.

Davydova, M. S. 1988. [New species of gamasid mites associated with bumble bees]. Novye i Maloizvestnye Vidy Fauny Sibiri.20: 18-32.

Egan, M. E. & W. W. Moss. 1969. The life cycle and behavior of a cockroach mite, Proctolaelaps nauphoetae (Acari: Mesostigmata: Ascidae). Notulae Naturae (Philadelphia).420: 1-9.

Halliday, R. B., D. E. Walter & E. E. Lindquist. 1998. Revision of the Australian Ascidae (Acarina : Mesostigmata). Invertebrate Taxonomy.12: 1-54.

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

Karg, W. 1971. Acari (Acarina), Milben. Unterordnung Anactinochaeta (Parasitiformes). Die freilebenden Gamasina (Gamasides), Raubmilben. Die Tierwelt Deutschlands. 59. pp.

Klimov, P. B. 1998. To the knowledge of mites and ticks (Acari) of Kuril Islands. Far Eastern Entomologist.36: 1-36.

Lindquist, E. E. & G. O. Evans. 1965. Taxonomic concepts in the Ascidae, with a modified setal nomenclature for the idiosoma of the Gamasina (Acarina : Mesostigmata). Memoirs of the Entomological Society of Canada.47: 1-64.

Westerboer, I. 1963. Die Familie Podocinidae Berlese 1916. In Beiträge zur Systematik und Ökologie Mitteleuropäischer Acarina. Band II. Mesostigmata 1., ed. H.-J. Stammer, 179-450. Leipzig: Akademische Verlagsgesellschaft Geest & Portig K.-G.

Image Gallery

Proctolaelaps longisetosus, female, ex Bombus fervidus, USA: Ohio, BMOC 02-0706-001

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