TITLE:
Aquatic Phoretic Mites (Acari: Hydrachnidia) Associated with Ectoparasitism of Mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) in the Midwest Region of Brazil
AUTHORS:
Fábio Alexandre Leal dos Santos, Sirlei Frank Thies, Aldimara Vaillant Gonçalves, Klaucia Rodrigues Vasconcelos, Monaly da Silva Ribeiro, Junio de Souza Damasceno, Elisangela Santana de Oliveira Dantas, Diniz Pereira Leite Júnior
KEYWORDS:
Ectoparasitism, Hydracarina, Culicidae, Mites
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Entomology,
Vol.4 No.3,
July
14,
2016
ABSTRACT: Water mites (Hydrachnidia) are common external parasites of the medically important mosquitoes (Culicidae). Between April 2014 and April 2015, 64 mites from three genus, Arrenurus 71.9%, Limnochares 3.1%, and Hydrachna 25.0%, were collected from female mosquitoes in two rural locations near Cuiabá, Mato Grosso, Brazil. Dipterous species parasitized by water mites belonging to seven species: Anopheles (Nys.) darling, An. evansae, Aedes (Och.) scapularis, Ae. serratus, Mansonia (Man.) wilsoni, Psorophora (Jan.) ferox, Ps. varipes. The most common specimens to accommodate the water mites were Anopheles (Nys.) darlingi and Psorophora (Jan.) varipes. The prevalence of parasitism of mosquitoes by water mites found in this study was less than 5. However, few studies have addressed the ecological role of mites and their biotopes, as well as host-parasite interactions in Brazil.