The acari of Malta with special reference to man-made habitats

Abstract

Acari are among the most widespread and common arthropods in all habitats, including man-made ones. However they have never been studied in Malta and this work is the first attempt to consider the members of this Sub-class present on the Island. The author has carried out extensive sampling over a number of years on many different substrates, including stored cereals, dust, domestic animals, manure, animal feeds, straw and hay as well as living cultivated plants. This has resulted in the extraction of about 60 species of mites belonging to four different Orders and almost thirty Families. Mites from the following Families have been collected: Order Metastigmata, Family lxodidae; Order Mesostigmata SubOrder Gamasina, Varroidae, Parasitidae, Digamasellidae, Macrochelidae, Dermanyssidae, Ameroseiidae, Ascidae. Mites from the Sub-orders Sejina and Uropodina are also included. The Order Asitgmata is represented by the Families Falculiferidae, Demodicidae, Sarcoptidae, Psoroptidae, Pyroglyphidae, Histiostomatidae, Glycyphagidae, Carpoglyphidae, Acaridae, Chortoglyphidae. Finally, the Order Prostigmata is present with the Families: Tarsonemidae, Pygmephoridae, Pyemotidae, Cheyletiae, Cunaxidae, Bdellidae, Tydeidae, Tetranychidae, Tenuipalpidae .. Several species of the Order Cryptostigmata are also recorded. The thesis includes generai notions on the Sub-ciass Acari, with comments on the Orders, Families and species as well as comprehensive dichotomous keys - both text and illustrated - for the identification of all the groups mentioned in the work. The biogeography of the stored products mites is also discussed in order to put the acarofauna of Malta in the context of that of the Mediterranean area. This exercise has brought to light the relative lack of acarological studies in almost all countries of the region but has also confirmed the fact that many species infesting stored products are by now cosmopolitan. However it has also revealed the presence in Malta of a few species that have not been recorded previously in the Mediterranean region.