Persian Journal of Acarology

Abstract A new monotypic genus and species Andrelorryia hajiqanbari gen., sp. nov., are described from Western Siberia, Russia. The new genus was previously mentioned in literature as Generic Unit TY2 and differs from Nudilorryia by the absence of the seta l” on palptibia and absence of the solenidion on tarsus II.   

Abstract This paper reports on a new species of mite of the genus Gaeolaelaps from Western Siberia, Russia—Gaeolaelaps hajiqanbari Joharchi and Nemati sp. nov. collected from soil of salt marsh in vicinity of Omsk. The new species is described and illustrations provided based on morphological characters of the adult female.

Abstract In this research, a new species Proctotydaeus hajiqanbari Darbemamieh, Ahadiyat & Farmahiny-Farahani sp. nov. is described from the galleries of two pest bark beetles Scolytus amygdali Guérin-Méneville and Orthotomicus erosus (Wollaston) from Iran. Mentioned galleries collected from damaged apricot and pine trees in Tehran province.

Abstract The water mite communities of the River Drawa were investigated in the year 1988. The samples were taken in April, July and September. A total of 1349 specimens belonging to 52 species of water mites were collected. We decided to distingush Lebertia cf. gibbosa despite of its synonymization with L. ineaqualis, because we collected both species and found sound distinguishing features. The status of the species should be rechecked. The most abundant species was Hygrobates setosus (13.4%) followed by Sperchon papillosus (10.5%), S. clupeifer (9.8%), Torrenticola amplexa (8.5%), Hygrobates longipalpis and Limnesia maculata (each 7.0%), Hygrobates calliger (5.8%), Lebertia ineaqualis (5.2%) and Arrenurus albator (4%). The largest synecological group was rheophiles and rheobionts (71.1% specimens) followed by lake species (16.5%), small water bodies species (11.9%), species from astatic waters and crenophilous species (0.2% specimens). The most stagnophilous species were connected with marginal pools with and muddy bottom covered by plants and sections of river after lake or spring. More specimens (894) and species (31) were caught in the lotic zone of the river than in the lentic zone (455 specimens, 28 species). Rheophilous species were divided into two groups: one connected with lotic zones but with rather slow-flowing water and sandy bottom, and another one connected with fast-flowing water with gravel and stones on the bottom, partially covered by mosses.

Abstract Larvae of water mite, Eylais extendens (Müller, 1776) (Acari, Eylaidae) were collected from water burrowing beetles (Noteridae), predaceous diving beetles (Dytiscidae) and variegated mud-living beetles (Heteroceridae) from Guilan province, Iran, captured by light traps. The redescription and illustration of taxonomic characters of the larva were made based on specimens collected from Guilan province, Northern Iran. This is the first record of larval hosts of E. extendens from Iran. 

Abstract The predatory mite Proprioseiopsis lindquisti completed its development and reproduced successfully on three eriophyid mites, Aculops lycopersici, Aceria mangiferae, and Aculus fockeui, under laboratory conditions. Feeding on A. mangiferae and A. fockeui resulted in short developmental and long oviposition periods and was a suitable food for predator oviposition as it resulted in high fecundity, gross and net reproductive rates. Feeding on A. lycopersici elongated the developmental period and was less favorable for the predator as it gave the lowest rate of oviposition and net reproductive rates. Higher intrinsic rates of increase, and finite rates of increase for P. lindquisti were recorded on A. mangiferae while A. lycopersici and A. fockeui produced lower values.

Abstract Leaf domatia as a habitat-produced structure is considered to moderate the interaction intensity among guild parties. We studied whether domatia of sweet pepper (Capsicum annum) leaves could reduce the adverse effects of predation of a phytoseiid on behalf of an intraguild predatory mite on a phytoseiid intraguild prey, and a tetranychid extraguild prey. In the domatia-provided treatments where Amblyseius swirskii (Athias-Henriot) females were considered as predator, significantly fewer Phytoseiulus persimilis Athias-Henriot juveniles were killed, and eaten in comparison with the treatments without domatia. The predation rate of A. swirskii was affected by the domatia i.e. the number of eaten P. persimilis was significantly lower on patches with four domatia rather than those with no domatium, however, no significant difference was observed between those in patches with two, and four domatia. Both natural, and artificial domatia could reduce the predation rate on P. persimilis juveniles. When P. persimilis females were considered as predators, the number of A. swirskii killed juveniles was affected neither by presence nor by the number of leaf domatia. The number of eaten Tetranychus urticae Koch eggs/larvae in patches with either of the intraguild predator species was not affected by the presence, the number, and the type of domatia. We suggest that leaf domatia could affect the survival of phytoseiid predatory mites as the guild participants even when the highly aggressive intraguild predator, A. swirskii, enters such structures.

Abstract Our study aimed to identify and characterize the common species of house dust mites collected from different areas in Assiut city, study their seasonal variation, and effects of some housing criteria on their prevalence. This could help in the assessment of the magnitude of the current situation in this locality and assist in implementing appropriate investigations and diagnostic tools which in turn offers a better quality of life to allergy sufferers in our study locality as well as for others. Dust samples were collected from eight regions representing the two main districts of Assiut City as systemic random samples. For proper dust collection we used both a vacuum cleaner and a hand sweeper from different rooms of each house (bedrooms, mattresses, floor, bedding and living rooms). Also, two methods were used for mite extraction: Kero-float method and modified Berlese-Tullgren funnel. Light microscopy as well as SEM were used to identify different mite species with the aid of an identification key. The overall prevalence of house dust mites in collected samples was 94 positive samples per 300 houses examined in this study. Seasonal variations significantly affected the prevalence of house dust mites; the highest frequency was noticed during winter (66.7%) and the least frequency was noticed during summer (13.3%). Kero-float method was more sensitive and accurate than modified Berlese-Tullgren funnel in mites' extraction in a given sample (100% and 47.9% respectively). The most frequently isolated species were Dermatophagoides farinae (80.9%) and D. pteronyssinus (58.5%) followed by stored products mite, Tyrophagus putrescentiae (50%) and predatory mite, Cheyletus malaccensis (31.9%) while the least frequent species was Dermanyssus gallinae (21.3%). Mixed species were detected in 48 (51.1%) of the positive samples. Some housing criteria: age of the house, damp or moldy stains on floor or on other indoor surfaces (walls, ceiling), presence of carpets/rugs and aeration style (sunny/shady) have significantly affected the prevalence of house dust mites in different houses. We concluded that although Assiut is the driest city in Egypt with low relative humidity, which is an essential factor in the survival of mites, there is significant prevalence of house dust mites (31.3%). Housing criteria significantly affected the presence of HDMs.

Abstract Mite pests cause significant postharvest losses to the world's food supply, where substandard storage conditions and lack of effective control enable mites to replicate. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess mite infestation risk and determine the acaricidal efficacy of some monoterpenes, phenylpropenes, and sesquiterpenes against one of the most prevailing mite pests found in Egyptian storage facilities. A screening mite survey was conducted on bran and flour samples obtained from commercial stores and flour mills in Alexandria, Egypt between June and December 2019. Eight mite taxa belonging to five families were identified. Tyrophagus putrescentiae (Schrank) (Acaridae) and Suidasia medanensis Oudemans (Suidassidae) were the most dominant species, each representing ≃ 40% of the total mite count (142,988 individuals). Cheyletus malaccensis Oudemans (Cheyletidae) was the most abundant predatory mite recorded in both storage sites. The contact toxicity of eight compounds belonging to monoterpenes, phenylpropenes, and sesquiterpenes was evaluated against the adults of S. medanensis. trans-Cinnamaldehyde showed the highest acaricidal activity, followed by eugenol, cuminaldehyde, (Z,E)-nerolidol and farnesol with LC₅₀ values of 0.007, 0.028, 0.036, 0.042 and 0.048 mg/cm², respectively, after 24 h of treatment. The toxicity of all compounds against the adults increased after 48 h, indicating that the effectiveness of compounds improved with increase of exposure time. On the other hand, the tested compounds showed different levels of repellent activity against S. medanensis adults after 1 and 6 h of treatment. The highest repellent effects were observed in the case of (Z,E)-nerolidol and farnesol displaying repellency of 92.0–96.3 and 81.4–92.1%, respectively, after 1 h of treatment. In contrary, (-)-citronellal and cuminaldehyde showed the lowest repellent effect. These results indicate that the tested compounds, particularly phenylpropenes and sesquiterpenes, could be effective candidates for the management of S. medanensis in storage products.

Abstract The broad mite Polyphagotarsonemus latus (Banks) is a polyphagous pest with a cosmopolitan distribution. The combined application of botanical pesticides and entomo-acaropathogenic fungi may serve as an eco-friendly approach in controlling the mite. In this study, the Mimosa pudica (Fabales: Fabaceae) leaf aqueous extract (MpAE) was initially tested to determine its effects on the mycelial growth, sporulation, and conidia viability of the entomo-acaropathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana (Hypocreales: Cordycipitaceae). The compatibility was then determined based on the biological index (BI) value. The bioefficacy of MpAE and B. bassiana at various concentrations was evaluated against P. latus, both alone and in combinations. Each treatment was sprayed into an arena containing a citrus leaf disc and gravid females of P. latus. The mortality and oviposition rate of the females were observed until 120 h after application. The results showed no reduction in B. bassiana mycelial growth, sporulation, and conidia viability when MpAE was incorporated into the culture medium. The BI value ranged from 100.01 to 136.30, indicating that MpAE was highly compatible with B. bassiana. The individual and combined applications of MpAE and B. bassiana significantly increased the mite mortality and simultaneously inhibited the mite oviposition rate. The mite mortality varied from 90 to 100% at 120 h after application in the treatment groups. The mite oviposition rate was significantly decreased, ranging from 11.50 to 29.00 eggs in the treatment groups, while it was 57.25 eggs in control. Therefore, the application of MpAE and B. bassiana propose a valuable alternative to integrate into pest management programs.

Abstract Crude ethyl acetate extracts of six entomopathogenic fungi, Hirsutella species were screened against Tetranychus urticae Koch (Acari: Tetranychidae). In this study, all extracts presented potential to control eggs and adult female activities. Laboratory evaluation of the crude extracts of Hirsutella citriformis, H. guignardii, H. petchabunensis, H. satumaensis, H. saussurei and H. thompsonii showed slightly toxicity and median lethal concentration (LC₅₀) values of 7,579.94, 8,910.38, 8,579.45, 5,055.96, 1,555.46 and 44,197.85 mg/L at 72 h after treatment against adult females of T. urticae, respectively. Related LC₅₀ values that exhibited on eggs were 12,701.86, 30,922.72, 10,870.96, 12,635.56, 9,244.59 and 22,676.66 mg/L at 5 days after exposure. The most effective on T. urticae eggs and adult females is H. saussurei. Moreover, all extracts deceased the fecundity of T. urticae after being fed with mulberry leaf discs treated the crude extract of six species of Hirsutella under residual effect bioassay. The results suggest that the ethyl acetate extracts of Hirsutella citriformis, H. guignardii, H. petchabunensis, H. thompsonii, H. satumaensi and H. saussurei have the potential to be used for the control of T. urticae in the future.

Abstract Otobius megnini (Ixodida: Argasidae) is a cosmopolitan soft tick that parasitizes humans as well as domestic and wild animals. The larval and nymph stages of this tick usually feed by parasitizing in the ear canal. The material of this study consists of ticks collected during ear cleaning in approximately 496 people coming with the complaint of ear pain in state hospitals in Bulanik and Malazgirt districts of Muş province, eastern Turkey. As a result of microscopic examination performed on ticks collected from humans, O. megnini tick was determined and molecular identification was made for definitive diagnosis. The 16S rRNA gene fragment of the tick was amplified by PCR. Obtained PCR products were 360 bp. The PCR products were analyzed by sequence analysis and compared with the reference sequences in the BLAST and Genbank. A phylogenetic tree was created with MEGA 7 software using Maximum Likelihood model. As a result, the previously identified Otobius megnini in Turkey, was confirmed using molecular methods for the first time.

Abstract The survey made during 2019-2020 in Coimbatore region of Tamil Nadu found that total of nine species of spider mites were recorded in different agro-ecosystems (Table 1). Out of nine, five species were found to be new records, in new hosts. Tetranychus udaipurensis Gupta & Gupta, 1994 from Lablab purureus, Ricinus sp and Moringa sp and Oligonychus tylus Baker & Pritchard, 1960 from Cocos nucifera as new host association; Schizotetranychus baltazari Rimando, 1962 from Citrus aurantiifolia, Murraya koenigii and Azadiracta indica; Schizotetranychus lespedezae Beglyarov & Mitrofanov, 1973 from Bauhinia purpurea and Schizotetranychus krungthepensis Auger & Naing, 2014 from Saccharum officinarum. The mites were mounted in Hoyer’s medium and a week oven dried clear slides were observed under Leica DM750 (Leica DFC295 camera). All species samples were deposited in the Biosystematics division in Department of Agricultural Entomology, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, India.

Abstract Ticks are second most serious pathogens to public health after mosquitoes all over the world. These not only spread diseases to animals but also in human. These causes several viral, bacterial and zoonotic diseases to livestock including Crimean‑Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF), theileriosis and babesiosis which directly and indirectly causes huge economic losses. Total 53 tick species belonging to eight genera had been reported in Pakistan. In the current study total six tick species such as Dermacentor marginatus, D. silvarum, Hyalomma hussaini, Hy. anatolicum, Haemaphysalis Punctata and Hae. pinulosa were identified from study area. Among identified species two species i.e. D. silvarum and Hae. pinulosa were first recorded from the country (Pakistan). Both these species were collected small ruminants like goats and sheep. These species could become serious problems to human health and spread to other areas of the country. The results of this study will lead to further identification of tick species in the current study as well as other areas of the country.

Abstract Here with our sorrowful hearts, we announce the devastating news for death of our friend and colleague, Dr. Hamidreza Hajiqanbar, an exceptional acarologist.