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Mite
Mites are small arachnids (eight-legged arthropods) of two large orders, the Acariformes and the Parasitiformes, which were historically grouped together in the subclass Acari. However, most recent genetic analyses do not recover the two as each other's closest relative within Arachnida, rendering the group invalid as a clade. Most mites are tiny, less than in length, and have a simple, unsegmented body plan. The small size of most species makes them easily overlooked; some species live in water, many live in soil as decomposers, others live on plants, sometimes creating galls, while others are Predation, predators or Parasitism, parasites. This last type includes the commercially destructive ''Varroa'' parasite of honey bees, as well as scabies mites of humans. Most species are harmless to humans, but a few are associated with allergies or may transmit diseases. The scientific discipline devoted to the study of mites is called acarology. Evolution and taxonomy Mites are not ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Varroa Destructor
''Varroa destructor'', the Varroa mite, is an ectoparasite, external parasitic mite that attacks and feeds on honey bees and is one of the most damaging honey bee pests in the world. A significant mite infestation leads to the death of a honey bee colony, usually in the late autumn through early spring. Without management for Varroa mite, honey bee colonies typically collapse within 2 to 3 years in temperate climates. These mites can infest ''Apis mellifera'', the western honey bee, and ''Apis cerana'', the Asian honey bee. Due to very similar physical characteristics, this species was thought to be the closely related ''Varroa jacobsoni'' prior to 2000, but they were found to be two separate species after DNA analysis. Parasitism of bees by mites in the genus ''Varroa'' is called varroosis. The Varroa mite can reproduce only in a honey bee colony. It attaches to the body of the bee and weakens the bee. The species is a vector for at least five debilitating bee viruses, includin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arthropod
Arthropods ( ) are invertebrates in the phylum Arthropoda. They possess an arthropod exoskeleton, exoskeleton with a cuticle made of chitin, often Mineralization (biology), mineralised with calcium carbonate, a body with differentiated (Metamerism (biology), metameric) Segmentation (biology), segments, and paired jointed appendages. In order to keep growing, they must go through stages of moulting, a process by which they shed their exoskeleton to reveal a new one. They form an extremely diverse group of up to ten million species. Haemolymph is the analogue of blood for most arthropods. An arthropod has an open circulatory system, with a body cavity called a haemocoel through which haemolymph circulates to the interior Organ (anatomy), organs. Like their exteriors, the internal organs of arthropods are generally built of repeated segments. They have ladder-like nervous systems, with paired Anatomical terms of location#Dorsal and ventral, ventral Ventral nerve cord, nerve cord ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ixodida
Ticks are parasitic arachnids of the order Ixodida. They are part of the mite superorder Parasitiformes. Adult ticks are approximately 3 to 5 mm in length depending on age, sex, and species, but can become larger when engorged. Ticks are external parasites, living by hematophagy, feeding on the blood of mammals, birds, and sometimes reptiles and amphibians. The timing of the origin of ticks is uncertain, though the oldest known tick fossils are around 100 million years old, and come from the Cretaceous period. Ticks are widely distributed around the world, especially in warm, humid climates. Ticks belong to two major families: the Ixodidae, or hard ticks, and the Argasidae, or soft ticks. ''Nuttalliella'', a genus of tick from southern Africa, is the only member of the family Nuttalliellidae, and represents the most primitive living lineage of ticks. Adults have ovoid/pear-shaped bodies (idiosomas) which become engorged with blood when they feed, and eight legs. Their ce ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gall
Galls (from the Latin , 'oak-apple') or ''cecidia'' (from the Greek , anything gushing out) are a kind of swelling growth on the external tissues of plants. Plant galls are abnormal outgrowths of plant tissues, similar to benign tumors or warts in animals. They can be caused by various parasites, from viruses, fungi and bacteria, to other plants, insects and mites. Plant galls can be such highly organized structures that their cause can be determined without the actual agent being identified. This applies particularly to insect and mite plant galls. The study of plant galls is known as cecidology. Anatomy Shape and size Galls develop on various plant organs, providing nutrition and shelter to inducing insects. Galls display vast variation in morphology, size, and wall composition. The size of insect galls can range significantly, from approximately two inches in diameter to less than one-sixteenth of an inch. Some galls are so small that they are merely slightly thick ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Acariformes
The Acariformes, also known as the Actinotrichida, are the more diverse of the two superorders of mites. Over 32,000 described species are found in 351 families, with an estimated total of 440,000 to 929,000 species, including undescribed species. Systematics and taxonomy The Acariformes can be divided into two main clades – Sarcoptiformes and Trombidiformes. In addition, a paraphyletic Paraphyly is a taxonomic term describing a grouping that consists of the grouping's last common ancestor and some but not all of its descendant lineages. The grouping is said to be paraphyletic ''with respect to'' the excluded subgroups. In co ... group containing primitive forms, the Endeostigmata, was formerly also considered distinct. The latter is composed of only 10 families of little-studied, minute, soft-bodied mites that ingest solid food, such as fungi, algae, and soft-bodied invertebrates such as nematodes, rotifers, and tardigrades. These clades were formerly considered subor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harvestmen
The Opiliones (formerly Phalangida) are an Order (biology), order of arachnids, Common name, colloquially known as harvestmen, harvesters, harvest spiders, or daddy longlegs (see below). , over 6,650 species of harvestmen have been discovered worldwide, although the total number of extant taxon, extant species may exceed 10,000. The order Opiliones includes five suborders: Cyphophthalmi, Eupnoi, Dyspnoi, Laniatores, and Tetrophthalmi, which were named in 2014. Representatives of each extant suborder can be found on all continents except Antarctica. Well-preserved fossils have been found in the 400-million-year-old Rhynie cherts of Scotland, and 305-million-year-old rocks in France. These fossils look surprisingly modern, indicating that their basic body shape developed very early on, and, at least in some taxa, has changed little since that time. Their Phylogenetics, phylogenetic position within the Arachnida is disputed; their closest relatives may be camel spiders (Solifugae ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parasitism
Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives (at least some of the time) on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson characterised parasites' way of feeding as "predators that eat prey in units of less than one". Parasites include single-celled protozoans such as the agents of malaria, sleeping sickness, and amoebic dysentery; animals such as hookworms, lice, mosquitoes, and vampire bats; fungi such as honey fungus and the agents of ringworm; and plants such as mistletoe, dodder, and the broomrapes. There are six major parasitic strategies of exploitation of animal hosts, namely parasitic castration, directly transmitted parasitism (by contact), trophicallytransmitted parasitism (by being eaten), vector-transmitted parasitism, parasitoidism, and micropredation. One major axis of classification concerns invasiveness: ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monogynaspida
Mesostigmata is an order of mites belonging to the Parasitiformes. They are by far the largest group of Parasitiformes, with over 8,000 species in 130 families. Mesostigmata includes parasitic as well as free-living and predatory forms. They can be recognized by the single pair of spiracles positioned laterally on the body. The family with the most described species is Phytoseiidae. Other families of note are Diplogyniidae, Macrochelidae, Pachylaelapidae, Uropodidae and Veigaiidae. Amongst the best known species are ''Varroa destructor'', an economically important parasite of honey bees, as well as the red mite (''Dermanyssus gallinae''), a parasite of poultry, most commonly chickens. Description Mesostigmata are mites ranging from 0.12–4 mm long (0.2–4 mm according to another source). They have a pair of stigmatal openings above legs III-IV usually associated with a peritrematal groove. The gnathosoma has a sclerotised ring around the bases of the chelic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Acarology
Acarology (from Ancient Greek /, , a type of mite; and , -logy, ) is the study of mites and ticks, the animals in the order (biology), order Mite, Acarina. It is a subfield of arachnology, a subdiscipline of the field of zoology. A zoologist specializing in acarology is called an acarologist. Acarologists may also be parasitologists because many members of Acarina are parasitic. Many acarologists are studying around the world both professionally and as amateurs. The discipline is a developing science and research has been provided for it in more recent history. Acarological organisations * Laboratory of Medical Acarology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic Tick Research Laboratory University of Rhode Island Tick Research Labat Texas A&M University Acarological societies International * International Congress of Acarology * Societe Internationale des Acarologues de Langue Francaise * Systematic and Applied Acarology Society Regional * Acarology Society of America * Acarol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parasitiformes
Parasitiformes are a superorder of Arachnids, constituting one of the two major groups of mites, alongside Acariformes. Parasitiformes has, at times, been classified at the rank of order or suborder. It is uncertain whether Parasitiformes and Acariformes are closely related, and in many analyses they are recovered more closely related to other arachnids. Amongst the best known members of the group are the ticks, though the Mesostigmata is by far the most diverse group with over 8,000 described species, including economically important species such as the varroa mite. Description Taxonomy * Holothyrida - small group of scavenging mites native to former Gondwana landmasses * Ixodida – ticks * Mesostigmata – a large order of predatory and parasitic mites * Opilioacarida – a small group of large, long-legged segmented mites. Many species are parasitic (most famous of which are ticks), but not all. For example, about half of the 10,000 known species in the suborder Mesost ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mesostigmata
Mesostigmata is an order of mites belonging to the Parasitiformes. They are by far the largest group of Parasitiformes, with over 8,000 species in 130 families. Mesostigmata includes parasitic as well as free-living and predatory forms. They can be recognized by the single pair of spiracles positioned laterally on the body. The family with the most described species is Phytoseiidae. Other families of note are Diplogyniidae, Macrochelidae, Pachylaelapidae, Uropodidae and Veigaiidae. Amongst the best known species are ''Varroa destructor'', an economically important parasite of honey bees, as well as the red mite (''Dermanyssus gallinae''), a parasite of poultry, most commonly chickens. Description Mesostigmata are mites ranging from 0.12–4 mm long (0.2–4 mm according to another source). They have a pair of stigmatal openings above legs III-IV usually associated with a peritrematal groove. The gnathosoma has a sclerotised ring around the bases of the chelic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
