| Pyemotidae | |
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| Pyemotes tritici | |
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| Family: | Pyemotidae |
Pyemotidae is a family of mostly parasitic mites that feed on the larvae and other developmental stages of various insects but some species are herbivorous or fungivorous.
Members of this family are elongated, cylindrical mites with a large gap between the front two pairs of legs and the hind two pairs. The chelicerae (mouthparts) are needle-like. In females the body behind the posterior limbs becomes much enlarged when eggs are being carried. [2]
Members of this family have a widespread distribution and are found in most parts of the world. [3]
The adult female mites are mostly parasitic on insects. Their host range includes many holometabolous insects such as honeybees, bark-boring beetles, moths and stored product pests. They parasitise various development stages of their host species but mostly it is the larvae which are attacked. They pierce the host with their chelicerae and suck out the haemolymph. [1]
The female starts to breed after feeding on haemolymph. The eggs are retained inside the opisthosoma (body) behind the two rear pairs of legs, and this part of the body becomes grossly swollen while the larvae complete their development inside. The males emerge first and feed by puncturing their mother's opisthosoma. They copulate with the new-borne females when they emerge; this stimulates the females to crawl away and find new hosts to parasitise. [1] [2]
The genus Pyemotes includes species that attack bee and bark beetle larvae; some of them are venomous, paralysing the larvae being attacked with their saliva. One species Pyemotes tritici attacks the larvae of grain moths and stored grain pests and is known as the "straw itch mite" because when humans come into contact with it, it attempts to feed on their skin, injecting venomous saliva and causing an itchy red rash. [2]
Some members of the family are not parasitic, with other feeding methods being herbivory and fungivory. Some species are the vectors of pathogenic fungi. [3]
A pest is any animal or plant harmful to humans or human concerns. The term is particularly used for creatures that damage crops, livestock, and forestry or cause a nuisance to people, especially in their homes. Humans have modified the environment for their own purposes and are intolerant of other creatures occupying the same space when their activities impact adversely on human objectives. Thus, an elephant is unobjectionable in its natural habitat but a pest when it tramples crops.
Mites are small arachnids.
The Acari are a taxon of arachnids that contains mites and ticks. The diversity of the Acari is extraordinary and their fossil history goes back to at least the early Devonian period. Acarologists have proposed a complex set of taxonomic ranks to classify mites. In most modern treatments, the Acari are considered a subclass of the Arachnida and are composed of two or three superorders or orders: Acariformes, Parasitiformes, and Opilioacariformes; the latter is often considered a subgroup within the Parasitiformes. The monophyly of the Acari is open to debate, and the relationships of the acarines to other arachnids is not at all clear. In older treatments, the subgroups of the Acarina were placed at order rank, but as their own subdivisions have become better understood, treating them at the superorder rank is more usual.
In evolutionary ecology, a parasitoid is an organism that lives in close association with its host at the host's expense, eventually resulting in the death of the host. Parasitoidism is one of six major evolutionary strategies within parasitism, distinguished by the fatal prognosis for the host, which makes the strategy close to predation.
The Tachinidae are a large and variable family of true flies within the insect order Diptera, with more than 8,200 known species and many more to be discovered. Over 1300 species have been described in North America alone. Insects in this family commonly are called tachinid flies or simply tachinids. As far as is known, they all are protelean parasitoids, or occasionally parasites, of arthropods, usually other insects. The family is known from many habitats in all zoogeographical regions and is especially diverse in South America.
Sawflies are the insects of the suborder Symphyta within the order Hymenoptera alongside ants, bees and wasps. The common name comes from the saw-like appearance of the ovipositor, which the females use to cut into the plants where they lay their eggs. The name is associated especially with the Tenthredinoidea, by far the largest superfamily in the suborder, with about 7,000 known species; in the entire suborder, there are 8,000 described species in more than 800 genera. Symphyta is paraphyletic, consisting of several basal groups within the order Hymenoptera, each one rooted inside the previous group, ending with the Apocrita which are not sawflies.
Solifugae is an order of animals in the class Arachnida known variously as camel spiders, wind scorpions, sun spiders, or solifuges. The order includes more than 1,000 described species in about 153 genera. Despite the common names, they are neither true scorpions nor true spiders. Most species of Solifugae live in dry climates and feed opportunistically on ground-dwelling arthropods and other small animals. The largest species grow to a length of 12–15 cm (5–6 in), including legs. A number of urban legends exaggerate the size and speed of the Solifugae, and their potential danger to humans, which is negligible.
Histeridae is a family of beetles commonly known as clown beetles or Hister beetles. This very diverse group of beetles contains 3,900 species found worldwide. They can be easily identified by their shortened elytra that leaves two of the seven tergites exposed, and their elbowed antennae with clubbed ends. These predatory feeders are most active at night and will fake death if they feel threatened. This family of beetles will occupy almost any kind of niche throughout the world. Hister beetles have proved useful during forensic investigations to help in time of death estimation. Also, certain species are used in the control of livestock pests that infest dung and to control houseflies. Because they are predacious and will even eat other Hister beetles, they must be isolated when collected.
Parasitoid wasps are a large group of hymenopteran superfamilies, with all but the wood wasps (Orussoidea) being in the wasp-waisted Apocrita. As parasitoids, they lay their eggs on or in the bodies of other arthropods, sooner or later causing the death of these hosts. Different species specialise in hosts from different insect orders, most often Lepidoptera, though some select beetles, flies, or bugs; the spider wasps (Pompilidae) exclusively attack spiders.
Cleridae are a family of beetles of the superfamily Cleroidea. They are commonly known as checkered beetles. The family Cleridae has a worldwide distribution, and a variety of habitats and feeding preferences.
A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps but are in a separate suborder. The wasps do not constitute a clade, a complete natural group with a single ancestor, as their common ancestor is shared by bees and ants. Many wasps, those in the clade Aculeata, can sting their insect prey.
Trombiculidae are a family of mites. Chiggers are often confused with jiggers - a type of flea. Several species of Trombiculidae in their larva stage bite their animal or human host and by embedding their mouthparts into the skin causing "intense irritation" or "a wheal, usually with severe itching and dermatitis",
Xanthocryptus novozealandicus, the lemon tree borer parasite, is a wasp in the family Ichneumonidae. It is a native insect of New Zealand. It is also found in Australia and New Guinea. Females hunt for larvae of wood-boring beetles around March, including the lemon tree borer, a native cerambycid that tunnels into citrus trees, grapes and many native species. When a suitable host is found, the female pushes her ovipositor through the wood and injects her eggs into the grub. This has the incidental benefit of helping to control some pests. X. novozealandicus prefers to prey on second year lemon tree borer larvae. This specific parasite prefers to prey on larger second year larvae due to its larger size.
Pyemotes tritici is a species of mite known as the grain itch mite or straw itch mite. It is a cosmopolitan species that is found on straw, hay and stored grain. It is a parasite of small arthropods and is being investigated as a possible biological control of stored product pests. It is associated with dermatitis in humans, and it causes an itchy rash.
The Anthrenocerus australis is a species of beetle belonging to the dermestidae family. It is commonly known as the Australian Carpet Beetle and is one of the most researched of the thirty-one species in the Anthrenocerus genus. This is generally attributed to its prevalence throughout Australia and New Zealand and the negative economic and agricultural impact it has as a pest. It is the larvae that causes damage to products, not the adult beetle. The total life cycle of this insect is around three years, most of which is spent as a larva. Once the beetle reaches maturity, it only lives for between two and six weeks.
Mites are small crawling animals related to ticks and spiders. Most mites are free-living and harmless. Other mites are parasitic, and those that infest livestock animals cause many diseases that are widespread, reduce production and profit for farmers, and are expensive to control.
Anaphes nitens is a species of fairyfly, a chalcid wasp in the family Mymaridae. Native to Australia, it is an egg parasitoid of the gum tree snout beetle, a pest of Eucalyptus trees, and has been used in biological pest control of that species.
Platypus apicalis, known by its common name the New Zealand pinhole boring beetle, is a wood boring beetle endemic to New Zealand and found throughout the North and South Island in a range of environments.
Meloe variegatus is a European oil beetle. It is commonly known as the variegated oil beetle. Adult beetles feed on leaves and can be pests of crops, while the larvae are parasitic on solitary bees.
Tetraschininae is a subfamily of the chalcid wasp family Eulophidae. It is one of the largest subfamilies of the Eulophidae containing over 100 genera and nearly 3,000 species. The species of the family Tetrastichinae are found in almost any type of terrestrial habitat and have a worldwide distribution, except Antarctica. They show a varied biology and hosts for Tetraschine wasps have been identified from over 100 different insect families, across 10 different orders and they have also been recorded as being parasitoids on nematodes, mites and spiders' eggs. Some species are even phytophagous, while others are inquilines and yet others are gall formers.
