MITES (ACARI) PHORETIC ON GROUND BEETLES (COLEOPTERA, CARABIDAE) IN A SOUTHERN TAIGA FOREST IN THE VICINITY OF VOLOGDA CITY

摘要

Ground beetles were captured in a mixed southern taiga forest near the city of Vologda, Russia from March to September 2014 using different collecting techniques. Of 250 beetles belonging to 22 species, 109 carabids representing 11 species yielded 326 mite specimens. These belonged to the cohorts Gamasina (4 species), Astigmatina (5), and Heterostigmatina (1). Two species, Antennoseius pseudospinosus Eidelberg 1990, which is common in the steppes of southeastern Europe, and Halodarcia incideta Karg 1969, a European polyzonal hydrophile, are recorded in the taiga zone for the first time. The podapolipid mite Dorsipes dorsipes Regenfuss 1968, a specialized parasite of the carabid genus Carabus Linnaeus 1758, is new to the fauna of Eastern Europe. A mature specimen of the mite genus Stylochirus G. Canestrini et R. Canestrini 1882 was revealed for the first time in a natural hibernating chamber in tight contact with the wintering ground beetle [a male of S. fimetarius (Muller 1859) on Carabus granulatus Linnaeus 1785]. The most common mite to occur on ground beetles, Antennoseius bullitus Karg 1969, which constituted 68% of the total mite sample, was found on 7 carabid species (the average occurrence, 41%). On 12 carabid specimens, joint phoresy of 2-3 mite species was established (in 5 cases Antennoseius bullitus and Stylochirus fimetarius). Three dominant mite species (comprising 85% of the total mite sample) were collected mainly from three dominant carabid species (70% of the beetle sample), but individual mite species prefer different hosts.