''Archegozetes longisetosus'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of tropical moss mite in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Trhypochthoniidae. It has been used as a

model organism A model organism (often shortened to model) is a non-human species that is extensively studied to understand particular biological phenomena, with the expectation that discoveries made in the model organism will provide insight into the workin ...

and has been found to have a very high pulling strength relative to its size.

Reproduction

Mites in the suborder Desmonomata are thought to have been reproducing exclusively by

parthenogenesis Parthenogenesis (; from the Greek grc, παρθένος, translit=parthénos, lit=virgin, label=none + grc, γένεσις, translit=génesis, lit=creation, label=none) is a natural form of asexual reproduction in which growth and development ...

for a very long time. All individuals of ''Archegozetes longisetosus'' are female and clutches of two to thirty eggs are laid every few days with the reproductive rate averaging 1.3 eggs per day. There are six

developmental stages Stages of development may refer to: Biology *Developmental biology, the study of the process by which animals and plants grow and develop *Prenatal development, also called fetal development, or embryology *Human development (biology), the proc ...

, a prelarval and a

larva A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. The ...

l stage, three nymphal stages and an adult stage.

Food

Oribatid mites differ from other chelicerate animals such as

spider Spiders ( order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species ...

s by the fact that they feed on food particles which they digest internally rather than fluid food digested externally. In a feeding experiment, specimens of ''Archegozetes longisetosus'' were offered algae '' Protococcus'' sp. scraped from tree bark, two fungi, ''

Stachybotrys ''Stachybotrys'' () is a genus of molds, hyphomycetes or asexually reproducing, filamentous fungi, now placed in the family Stachybotryaceae. The genus was erected by August Carl Joseph Corda in 1837. Historically, it was considered closely re ...

'' sp. and ''

Alternaria ''Alternaria'' is a genus of Deuteromycetes fungi. All species are known as major plant pathogens. They are also common allergens in humans, growing indoors and causing hay fever or hypersensitivity reactions that sometimes lead to asthma. They ...

'' sp., and some

filter paper Filter paper is a semi-permeable paper barrier placed perpendicular to a liquid or air flow. It is used to separate fine solid particles from liquids or gases. The raw materials are different paper pulps. The pulp may be made from softwood, hardwo ...

s made of cellulose-rich wood fibres. They fed preferentially on the algae and also consumed the ''Alternaria'' but rejected the ''Stachybotrys'' and the filter papers. After about ten days they started to secrete

chitinase Chitinases (EC 3.2.1.14, chitodextrinase, 1,4-β-poly-N-acetylglucosaminidase, poly-β-glucosaminidase, β-1,4-poly-N-acetyl glucosamidinase, poly ,4-(N-acetyl-β-D-glucosaminide)glycanohydrolase, (1→4)-2-acetamido-2-deoxy-β-D-glucan glycano ...

but did not develop

cellulase Cellulase (EC 3.2.1.4; systematic name 4-β-D-glucan 4-glucanohydrolase) is any of several enzymes produced chiefly by fungi, bacteria, and protozoans that catalyze cellulolysis, the decomposition of cellulose and of some related polysaccharide ...

enzymes to break down

cellulose Cellulose is an organic compound with the formula , a polysaccharide consisting of a linear chain of several hundred to many thousands of β(1→4) linked D-glucose units. Cellulose is an important structural component of the primary cell wall ...

under any of the experimental treatments.

Predators

Small

rove beetle The rove beetles are a family (Staphylinidae) of beetles, primarily distinguished by their short elytra (wing covers) that typically leave more than half of their abdominal segments exposed. With roughly 63,000 species in thousands of genera, the ...

s of the family Staphylinidae live among the leaf litter and largely feed on mites. ''Archegozetes longisetosus'' seems to have a chemical defence against being eaten as it has a pair of large oil glands on its abdomen. It was found that the beetles would eat mites from which the oil glands had been removed but would not eat intact specimens.

Use as model organism

Researchers have found that the pulling strength of the ''Archegozetes longisetosus'' equals about 1,180 times its own weight, five times more than might be expected for an animal of this size. As this study was the first to measure the claw forces of mites, other species could well have stronger pulling forces. ''Archegozetes longisetosus'' has been used as a

for studies in

chelicerate The subphylum Chelicerata (from New Latin, , ) constitutes one of the major subdivisions of the phylum Arthropoda. It contains the sea spiders, horseshoe crabs, and arachnids (including harvestmen, scorpions, spiders, solifuges, ticks, and mite ...

morphology, function, behaviour and evolution because of its short

life cycle Life cycle, life-cycle, or lifecycle may refer to: Science and academia *Biological life cycle, the sequence of life stages that an organism undergoes from birth to reproduction ending with the production of the offspring *Life-cycle hypothesis, ...

and the ease with which it can be cultured in the laboratory. All the mites of this species used in laboratories around the world are descended from one female collected from the wild in 1993.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2793679 Acariformes Animals described in 1965 Animal models