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PARASITIC WATER MITE LARVAE (HYDRACHNIDA: HYGROBATOIDEA) ASSOCIATED WITH CADDISFLY LARVAE (TRICHOPTERA: LEPTOCERIDAE, LIMNEPHILIDAE)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 May 2012

Wayne L. Fairchild  and
David J. Lewis
Wayne L. Fairchild
Affiliation:
Department of Entomology, Macdonald College of McGill University, 21,111 Lakeshore Road, Ste. Anne de Bellevue, Quebec, Canada H9X 1C0
David J. Lewis
Affiliation:
Department of Entomology, Macdonald College of McGill University, 21,111 Lakeshore Road, Ste. Anne de Bellevue, Quebec, Canada H9X 1C0
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Abstract

In the course of benthic sampling during 1981 and 1982 in Lake St. Louis, Que., 28 water mite larvae (Hygrobatidae: Hygrobates) were found parasitizing caddisfly larvae (Leptoceridae: Nectopsyche, Oecetis, Ceraclea). Two other water mite larvae (Unionicolidae: Unionicola) also were found: one on Nectopsyche from Lake St. Louis, and the other on Limnephilus (Limnephilidae) from the Magundy Stream, N.B. Prevalence of parasitism ranged from 8 to 42%. Mite distribution among available hosts suggests host selection by the mites or the absence of mites from certain microhabitats. Parasitism of fully submerged insect larvae by mite larvae represents a further derivation from ancestral behavior patterns. This paper describes five of the seven documented cases of such parasitism on Trichoptera larvae.

Résumé

Lors d’un échantillonnage du benthos du lac Saint-Louis (Que.) effectué en 1981 et 1982, 28 larves de mites aquatiques parasites (Hygrobatidés : Hygrobates) ont été trouvées sur des larves des trichoptères (Leptocéridés : Nectopsyche, Oecetis, Ceraclea). Deux autres larves de mites aquatiques (Unionicolidés : Unionicola) ont aussi été observées : l’une sur le genre Nectopsyche au lac Saint-Louis, et l’autre sur le genre Limnephilus (Limnéphilidés) dans le ruisseau Magundy, au N.-B. Le taux de parasitisme variait entre 8 et 42%. La distribution des mites entre les hôtes disponibles laisse croire à une forme de sélection ou à l’absence de mites dans certains microhabitats. Le parasitisme des larves d’insectes submergées par des larves de mites constitue pour celle-ci une autre déviation par rapport à leur comportement ancestral. Ce document décrit cinq des sept cas de parasitisme de ce genre étudiés sur des larves de trichoptères.

Type
Articles
Information
The Canadian Entomologist , Volume 119 , Issue 9 , September 1987 , pp. 809 - 813
Copyright
Copyright © Entomological Society of Canada 1987

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