''Eylais'' is a genus of

mite Mites are small arachnids (eight-legged arthropods). Mites span two large orders of arachnids, the Acariformes and the Parasitiformes, which were historically grouped together in the subclass Acari, but genetic analysis does not show clear evid ...

s belonging to the family

Eylaidae Eylaidae is a family of prostigs in the order Trombidiformes. There is at least one genus, ''Eylais ''Eylais'' is a genus of mites belonging to the family Eylaidae. The genus has cosmopolitan distribution. Species: * '' Eylais abitibiensis' ...

. The genus has

cosmopolitan distribution In biogeography, cosmopolitan distribution is the term for the range of a taxon that extends across all or most of the world in appropriate habitats. Such a taxon, usually a species, is said to exhibit cosmopolitanism or cosmopolitism. The ext ...

. Species: * ''

Eylais abitibiensis ''Eylais'' is a genus of mites belonging to the family Eylaidae. The genus has cosmopolitan distribution. Species: * ''Eylais abitibiensis'' Marshall, 1929 * ''Eylais amplipons'' Viets Biology ''Eylais'' mite larvae are ectoparasites of divi ...

'' Marshall, 1929 * ''

Eylais amplipons ''Eylais'' is a genus of mites belonging to the family Eylaidae. The genus has cosmopolitan distribution. Species: * ''Eylais abitibiensis'' Marshall, 1929 * '' Eylais amplipons'' Viets Biology ''Eylais'' mite larvae are ectoparasites of di ...

'' Viets

Biology

''Eylais'' mite larvae are ectoparasites of diving beetles (

Dytiscidae The Dytiscidae – based on the Greek ''dytikos'' (δυτικός), "able to dive" – are the predaceous diving beetles, a family of water beetles. They occur in virtually any freshwater habitat around the world, but a few species live a ...

). They attach mainly to the ventral side of the hindwings underneath the

elytra An elytron (; ; , ) is a modified, hardened forewing of beetles (Coleoptera), though a few of the true bugs (Hemiptera) such as the family Schizopteridae are extremely similar; in true bugs, the forewings are called hemelytra (sometimes alterna ...

and may be feeding on

hemolymph Hemolymph, or haemolymph, is a fluid, analogous to the blood in vertebrates, that circulates in the interior of the arthropod (invertebrate) body, remaining in direct contact with the animal's tissues. It is composed of a fluid plasma in which ...

from here. The smallest (and hence youngest) larvae occur on beetles in early spring, suggesting that some ''Eylias''

overwinter Overwintering is the process by which some organisms pass through or wait out the winter season, or pass through that period of the year when "winter" conditions (cold or sub-zero temperatures, ice, snow, limited food supplies) make normal activi ...

on their hosts. The larvae grow rapidly and reach their maximum size in late June/July, then advance to a nonparasitic life stage. Parasitism rates of ''Eylias'' on beetles are highest in early spring, decline through the summer and increase again in autumn.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4626340 Trombidiformes Trombidiformes genera