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Trimalaconothrus foveolatus, nymph, dorsal aspect Rys. 68. Trimalaconothrus foveolatus, nimfa, strona grzbietowa
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One new species of the oribatid mite genus Anderemaeus (Oribatida, Anderemaeidae)—A. umaluisorum sp. n.—is described, based on materials collected from soil-litter in an Andean primary mountain forest.
The first records are presented of water mites from Fuerteventura, Canary Islands. Five species were found, three of which are widespread in the (SW) Palaearctis. One species new to science is described, Neumania fortiventa while Arrenurus pervius Walter is synonymized with A. caesaraugustanus Viets, a rare species only known from temporary and/or...
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... Therefore, relatively few species live in such areas, most of them being cosmopolitan and broadly tolerant. The community structure is simple, with an uneven distribution and low diversity, indicating instability and disorder of the biocoenosis (Seniczak, 2011). Marshes and swamps are one such habitat. ...
Ecological indication potential of oribatid mites has been emphasized by researchers for several decades. These small arthropods possess biological characteristics through which they are able to indicate different changes in their environment. Oribatid mites can be found in almost every kind of habitat worldwide: terrestrial and aquatic habitats, and a lot of types of microhabitats (e.g, soil, lichen, moss, tree bark, foliage). Apart from the diversity of habitats, their huge adaptation ability is also shown by great abundance and species richness. In most habitats, they constitute the largest proportion of microarthropods. This study deals with works whose results point to the characteristics of oribatid mites that would allow their wider use in the ecological indication than at present.
... While the knowledge of Oribatida (Figure 1), the largest group of Sarcoptiformes, in mires has been constantly improving in recent decades (summarized by Mumladze et al., 2013;Seniczak, 2011), relatively few, scattered data are available about Mesostigmata (Bolger, Arroyo, & Piotrowska, 2018;Kaczmarek et al., 2006Kaczmarek et al., , 2011Kaczmarek & Marquardt, 2007, 2008Salmane & Spuņģis, 2015;Skorupski et al., 2008;Wisdom et al., 2011). Trombidiformes of mires (except for Hydrachnidia) are even less well known (Philippov et al., 2021;Willmann, 1933). ...
Arachnid orders, Mesostigmata, Trombidiformes, and Sarcoptiformes, commonly known as 'mites', are abundant in mires, both as adults and as juveniles. However, due to the challenges of identification, the juvenile forms are often excluded from analyses. This is the first study in mires that included all three mite orders identified to the species level, including juvenile instars. We aimed to compare how diversity and the response to ecological variables differed if only the adults (ad) vs. the total number of specimens (ad+juv) are considered. Samples of 20 Sphagnum species (five subgenera) were collected and mites were extracted using Berlese funnels. Overall, nearly 60,000 mites were analyzed; of these Mesostigmata made up 1.87% of the total, Trombidiformes -0.27%, and Sarcoptiformes -97.86%. The study revealed 154 species (33 Mesostigmata, 24 Trombidiformes, and 97 Sarcoptiformes), the highest diversity of mites ever reported from mires. The inclusion of juveniles increased observed species richness by 6%, with 10 species (one Mesostigmata, six Trombidiformes, and three Sarcoptiformes) represented only by juvenile forms. Seventeen species are new to Norway (four Mesostigmata, one Sarcoptiformes, and 12 Trombidiformes, including five undescribed species of Stigmaeidae and Cunaxidae). Four of these were represented in the samples only by juveniles. Including the juveniles explained a greater amount of the variability of Trombidiformes (explanatory variables account for 23.60% for ad, and 73.74% for ad+juv) and Mesostigmata (29.23% - ad, 52.91% - ad+juv), but had less of an impact for Sarcoptiformes (38.48% - ad, 39.26% - ad+juv). Locality, Sphagnum subgenus and species, wetness, and trophic state significantly affected the mite communities and should be taken into consideration when studying mires. Since juvenile stages contribute significantly to mite diversity in mires, they should also be included in mite studies in other habitats.
... Oribatida are mostly saprophagous and can reach densities of 300,000 ind. m −2 (Seniczak, 2011) and are the dominant and most diverse group of arthropods in peatlands (Rydin and Jeglum, 2013). They move very slowly horizontally, only few centimeters a day (Åström and Bengtsson, 2011;Lehmitz et al., 2012;Lehmitz and Maraun, 2016) what makes them particularly suitable bioindicators of their microhabitat conditions. ...
... The invertebrate fauna of peatlands, including Oribatida and Mesostigmata, is poorly studied compared to vegetation. Oribatida are good predictors of moisture − the key factor affecting their communities in peatlands (Donaldson, 1996;Kuriki, 1998;Seniczak, 2011;Minor et al., 2019;Lehmitz et al., 2020). Less is known about Mesostigmata in peatlands, but for example in Ireland, where there are extensive peatlands, and the Mesostigmata fauna has been comparatively well studied, one quarter of mesostigmatid species known to occur nationally are found in peatlands (Wisdom et al., 2011;Bolger et al., 2018). ...
... Considering previous studies in peatlands (Kaczmarek et al., 2008;Seniczak, 2011;Seniczak et al., 2016;Lehmitz et al., 2020) we hypothesized that (i) Oribatida, Mesostigmata, and vegetation would respond in different ways to the environmental factors in peatland ponds thus being complimentary bioindicators, (ii) ponds in near-natural peatlands would host abundant oribatid fauna highly dominated by specialists and few Mesostigmata represented by aquatic species, and (iii) disturbed peatlands would have more diverse oribatid and mesostigmatid fauna comparing to natural peatlands, dominated by species with wider ecological tolerance. ...
Vegetation is widely used in the assessment of the quality of peatlands, while the invertebrate fauna of peatlands is relatively poorly studied. We compared the bioindicator values of vegetation with two arthropod groups widespread in peatlands, saprophagous Oribatida (Acariformes) and predatory Mesostigmata (Parasitiformes) mites. Samples were collected from ecotones at the edges of peatland ponds in Poland, including four in near-natural condition (i.e., peatlands unaffected by human activity) and three in previously disturbed but now recovering peatlands. A set of abiotic parameters was measured at each site: pond area, mean annual temperature, annual precipitation, and water parameters (pH, conductivity, colour, total nitrogen and phosphorus, calcium, organic carbon). Overall, 63,635 specimens of Oribatida and 448 of Mesostigmata were recovered in the sampling. Species richness of Oribatida (56 species) was higher than that of vegetation (46) and Mesostigmata (15). Vegetation was significantly associated with annual precipitation in the years 1998–2007 which accounted for 29.1 % of the variation in vegetation communities. Oribatida variability was significantly associated with the content of organic carbon in water accounting for 32.4 % of variation. In contrast, variation in the Mesostigmata was not significantly associated with any of the abiotic parameters. Vegetation at ponds in previously disturbed and now recovering peatlands had higher bush cover than at near-natural ponds and the pond in the cutaway peat had lowest moss cover and the highest number of associate species (i.e., species with wide tolerance not characteristic of the certain community). Mite communities did not differ consistently between near-natural and recovering peatlands. Sphagnum divinum Flatberg et Hassel was recorded from Poland for the first time.
... Oribatida are mostly saprophagous and can reach densities of 300,000 ind. m −2 (Seniczak, 2011) and are the dominant and most diverse group of arthropods in peatlands (Rydin and Jeglum, 2013). They move very slowly horizontally, only few centimeters a day (Åström and Bengtsson, 2011;Lehmitz et al., 2012;Lehmitz and Maraun, 2016) what makes them particularly suitable bioindicators of their microhabitat conditions. ...
... The invertebrate fauna of peatlands, including Oribatida and Mesostigmata, is poorly studied compared to vegetation. Oribatida are good predictors of moisture − the key factor affecting their communities in peatlands (Donaldson, 1996;Kuriki, 1998;Seniczak, 2011;Minor et al., 2019;Lehmitz et al., 2020). Less is known about Mesostigmata in peatlands, but for example in Ireland, where there are extensive peatlands, and the Mesostigmata fauna has been comparatively well studied, one quarter of mesostigmatid species known to occur nationally are found in peatlands (Wisdom et al., 2011;Bolger et al., 2018). ...
... Considering previous studies in peatlands (Kaczmarek et al., 2008;Seniczak, 2011;Seniczak et al., 2016;Lehmitz et al., 2020) we hypothesized that (i) Oribatida, Mesostigmata, and vegetation would respond in different ways to the environmental factors in peatland ponds thus being complimentary bioindicators, (ii) ponds in near-natural peatlands would host abundant oribatid fauna highly dominated by specialists and few Mesostigmata represented by aquatic species, and (iii) disturbed peatlands would have more diverse oribatid and mesostigmatid fauna comparing to natural peatlands, dominated by species with wider ecological tolerance. ...
... Forest ponds and pools often disappear naturally during the natural succession but in recent years many have disappeared more rapidly due to climatic changes and drainage of large areas for agricultural use [1]. The loss of these water bodies has inestimable effects on entire ecosystems, decreasing water retention [3] and leading to the disappearance of wet habitats that host their unique flora and fauna, including mites and other small invertebrates [4] and included references. ...
... The number of oribatid species found at the pool was similar to the records from the edge of 16 water bodies in Northern Poland [4]. In Poland, with a two times higher sampling effort (10 replicates vs. 5 replicates in the present study) the average number of species was 26 and ranged from 17 to 41 [4], while in the present study 35 species of Oribatida were found. ...
... The number of oribatid species found at the pool was similar to the records from the edge of 16 water bodies in Northern Poland [4]. In Poland, with a two times higher sampling effort (10 replicates vs. 5 replicates in the present study) the average number of species was 26 and ranged from 17 to 41 [4], while in the present study 35 species of Oribatida were found. Water-saturated microhabitats are challenging for Oribatida, and most oribatid species prefer high or medium values of humidity [97,98]. ...
Forest water bodies, e.g., pools, constitute ‘environmental islands’ within forests, with specific flora and fauna thus contributing considerably to the landscape biodiversity. The mite communities of Oribatida and Mesostigmata in two distinctive microhabitats, water-soaked Sphagnum mosses at the edge of a pool and other mosses growing on the medium-wet forest floor nearby, were compared in a limestone forest in Southern Norway. In total, 16,189 specimens of Oribatida representing 98 species, and 499 specimens of Mesostigmata, from 23 species, were found. The abundance and species number of Oribatida were significantly lower at the pool, while the abundance and species richness of Mesostigmata did not differ. Both the communities of Oribatida and of Mesostigmata differed among the microhabitats studied and analysis showed significant differences between the community structures in the two microhabitats. The most abundant oribatid species in Sphagnum mosses was Parachipteria fanzagoi (Jacot, 1929), which made up over 30% of all Oribatida, followed by Atropacarus striculus (C.L. Koch, 1835) and Tyrphonothrus maior (Berlese, 1910) (14% and 12% of Oribatida, respectively). Among Mesostigmata Paragamasus parrunciger (Bhattacharyya, 1963) dominated (44% of Mesostigmata), followed by P. lapponicus (Trägårdh, 1910) (14% of Mesostigmata). Most of these species, except P. lapponicus, were either absent or very uncommon in the other microhabitat studied. The specific acarofauna of the forest pool shows the importance of such microhabitats in increasing forest diversity. In addition, a quarter of the mite species found had not been reported from Norwegian broadleaf forests before, including five new species records for Norway and four new to Fennoscandia, all found in the medium-wet microhabitat. Most of these species are rarely collected and have their northernmost occurrence in the studied forest.
... Freshwater malaconothrids are regarded as amphibiotic (Schatz and Behan-Pelletier, 2008). Malaconothrids may feed on detritus, higher plants, fungi, green algae, and bacteria (Seniczak, 2011), and it is unknown whether they can consume fish tissues. ...
Live oribatid mites of the family Malaconothridae were found on Salmo spp. parr caught in the rivers of Northwest Russia. The mites were localised in the gill filaments and enclosed in connective tissue capsules. The encapsulation was accompanied by hyperplasia and displacement of the respiratory epithelium. One mite specimen was an adult female, while all the other specimens were protonymphs. The adult female and one protonymph specimen were identified as Tyrphonothrus sp. Other protonymphs could be identified only at the family level. The obtained partial 18S rDNA sequence of one protonymph was 100% identical to that of Tyrphonothrus maior (NCBI accession No. KY922215). This is the first report of living malaconothrid mites encapsulated in fish gills, and the phenomenon may assume parasitic behaviour. However, the nature of the relationship between the mites and the fish requires further investigations.
... The mites of Limnozetes Hull, 1916 live abundantly, including the juveniles, in semiaquatic and aquatic habitats, bogs, fens and at the edges of lotic habitats (Behan-Pelletier 1989;Seniczak 2011;Seniczak et al. 2016Seniczak et al. , 2019aLehmitz et al. 2019). Behan-Pelletier (1989) gave the diagnosis of the genus Limnozetes, from which the main diagnostic characters are well-developed pteromorph, presence of dorsal expansion of bothridium, tutorium and genal tooth, weakly developed bothridial seta, lack of lenticulus and one or two setae a from tarsi, and presence of very long and curved seta d on femora I-III. ...
The morphological ontogeny of Limnozetes solhoyorum sp. nov. from Norway is described and illustrated. This species is most similar to L. guyi Behan-Pelletier, 1989 as adult, but differs from it mainly by the sculpture of notogaster, shorter prodorsal seta in and notogastral setae, especially p1, and the distribution of posterior notogastral setae. The tritonymph of L. solhoyorum differs from that of L. guyi by shorter gastronotal setae c3, dm, dp, lm and lp. In the deutonymph, tritonymph and adult of both species, setae d and l' from genu IV are absent.
... Several studies have shown that a key factor affecting oribatid communities in mires is wetness (Donaldson 1996;Kuriki 1998;Seniczak 2011a;Minor et al. 2019), as any changes in water conditionscaused e.g. by drainage or droughtlead to a shift from aquatic species to generalists (Markkula 1981(Markkula , 1986Laiho et al. 2001;Seniczak et al. 2016). Minor et al. (2019) distinguished environmental variables that are important for the aquatic and terrestrial Oribatida in mires. ...
... For terrestrial species, most important is water table depth, local plant diversity, and phosphorus content in Sphagnum tissues, while for the aquatic ones, water table depth was the only important factor (Minor et al. 2019). According to other studies (Seniczak 2011a), the phosphorus content of water, which reflects trophic conditions, affects the abundance of some aquatic Oribatida. ...
... For example, similar studies of the Oribatida from several Sphagnum species were carried out in the USA (Donaldson 1996) and in Russia (Minor et al. 2016), but the first one included more seasons and resulted in finding three-times more oribatid species in comparison to another study. It is well-known that different environmental factors, like water conditions, some water properties, or plant diversity, affect oribatid communities in mires (Seniczak 2011a;Minor et al. 2016Minor et al. , 2019. Finally, also different extraction efficiency of mites in various studies can affect the results (Minor et al. 2016). ...
A study of oribatid mites was carried out in six mires located in western, oceanic parts of Norway. Twenty Sphagnum species of five subgenera were collected from microhabitats representing trophic state and wetness gradients. In total, over 60,000 mites were extracted, including 58,000 Oribatida, representing 95 species (i.e. 30% of total species diversity of Oribatida in Norway). This is the highest number ever reported from mires, including 18 species new to Norway. The average density of the Oribatida was 54,126 ind./m², but it differed among Sphagnum subgenera, being four times lower in the subgenus Rigida than in the other subgenera. Juveniles contributed nearly 40% of oribatids, in some species highly dominating in the age structure (up to 80% in Nothrus spp.), and two oribatid species were represented only by juveniles, so their inclusion is important in ecological studies. In some species the proportion of juveniles varied between the studied microhabitats. Localities, Sphagnum subgenera, and wetness gradient affected significantly the oribatid communities, so these factors should be taken into consideration in studies of the Oribatida in mires.
... The large density of this group amongst moss on the lower part of beech trunks may result from the position of the microhabitat situated between the soil and arboreal habitat and which forms an ecotone that is available to both the soil and arboreal mites. The low density of Oribatida in damp litter can be explained by the high moisture levels which are only tolerated by hygrophilous species [10,46]. A low density of Oribatida in rotting wood is likely related to this microhabitat having the lowest proportion of juveniles, which is typical of xylophages that live abundantly in wood [10,47]. ...
... Hydrozetidae is comprised of species that live in water and develop inside aquatic plants [46] while some species of Ascidae prefer wet habitats [20] and the adults of both families use a plastron to respire under water [37,38,54]. ...
Five common microhabitats were selected on the forest floor (beech litter, moss on beech litter, moss on beech stumps, rotting beech wood and damp litter) and two microhabitats on beech trunks (moss collected 0.5 m and 2 m above the litter). The Oribatida had the greatest abundance in all microhabitats, with a mean density 4.2–91.2 fold higher than that of the Mesostigmata, while the species diversity of the Oribatida was similar, or at most, 2.8 fold greater, than that of the Mesostigmata. UPGMA quantitative analysis separated all moss microhabitats from the beech litter and rotting wood. Qualitative and quantitative analysis revealed similar habitat separation patterns, except for that moss on beech litter was clustered together with beech litter and rotting wood. In both analyses, the mite community of the damp litter was dissimilar from other mite communities. The maximal density of Oribatida occurred in moss on the lower part of beech trunks whereas minimum density was in damp litter, but the CCA analysis placed the Oribatida between moss on beech litter and moss on beech trunks. The maximum density of Mesostigmata occurred in beech litter and was at a minimum in rotting wood. But the CCA analysis placed the Mesostigmata between beech litter and damp litter. Significant correlations between the families of Mesostigmata and Oribatida were observed, more often evident in the juveniles than in the adults of Oribatida. These relationships are employed to explain the possible trophic interactions within the mite communities.
... Hydrozetes species are well adapted for living in water. The adults are egg-shaped, with a welldeveloped lenticulus, which helps them to orientate in the water column (summarised by Seniczak 2011). The adults use plastron respiration, and therefore can live in water for extended periods. ...
The morphological ontogeny of Hydrozetes paulista Pérez-Íñigo & Baggio, 1989 is described and illustrated. This species is monodactylous as adult, with short, setiform bothridial seta and belongs to the “lacustris species group”. It has 13 pairs of notogastral setae, including c2, but seta c3 is retained by some individuals. Most gastronotal setae of larva are of medium size and barbed, except for longer setae lm, lp and h2, and short and smooth c1 and h3. In the nymphs setae of l-series, h1 and h2 are very long, smooth and dark pigmented, setae h3 and p1 are of medium size, thick, pointed and barbed, and other setae are short and usually smooth; seta lm is located anterior to the gland opening. Hydrozetes paulista is bisexual, but in this study only females were present.
