Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rcrh6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T16:28:19.905Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Mites from Mexican Oaks Canopies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 September 2011

José G. Palacios-Vargas ,
Ricardo Iglesias  and
Gabriela Castaño-Meneses
José G. Palacios-Vargas
Affiliation:
Laboratorio Ecología y Sistemática de Microartrópodos, Depto. Ecología y Recursos Naturales, Facultad de Ciencias, UNAM. México, D. F. 04510, Mexico
Ricardo Iglesias
Affiliation:
Laboratorio Ecología y Sistemática de Microartrópodos, Depto. Ecología y Recursos Naturales, Facultad de Ciencias, UNAM. México, D. F. 04510, Mexico
Gabriela Castaño-Meneses
Affiliation:
Laboratorio Ecología y Sistemática de Microartrópodos, Depto. Ecología y Recursos Naturales, Facultad de Ciencias, UNAM. México, D. F. 04510, Mexico
Get access

Abstract

Mites are known to live in a diverse number of habitats, but only recently have they been collected in large quantities from the tropical canopies, where they have a diverse feeding habit.

We studied the canopy oribatid mites from five localities of Mexican oak species. Foggings with a natural pyrethrum in aqueous solution were employed to obtain the arthropods living on the canopy of the oaks. Specimens were taken from two collections made in February and August of 1997.

The total number of mites obtained with the two foggings was 5824 specimens. Most of them (95%) were collected during the rainy season and only about 5% during the dry season. The Mesostigmata were represented by 194 specimens, Prostigmata by 849 and the Cryptostigmata (or oribatids) were by far the most abundant, with a total of 4781 specimens. This group represents only 3% of total mite abundance during the dry season and 97% during the rainy season.

Quercus crassipes harboured more oribatid mites during the dry and rainy seasons, and the most important mites in abundance and frequency were Camisia sp., Phauloppia sp. and Scapheremaeus sp.

Résumé

Les acariens sont connus pour vivre dans des habitats très variès. Ils ont été cependant récoltés tout récemment en grandes quantités dans la canopée des forêts tropicales, où ils ont des préférences alimentaires diverses. Nous avons étudié les acariens oribates dans 5 forêts de chênes du centre du Mexique.

Nous avons utilisé la méthode de la fumigation, avec un pyrèthre naturel dilué dans une solution aqueuse sur différents arbres afin de récolter les arthropodes présents dans la canopée des chênes. Les spécimens ont été récoltés lors de deux échantillonnages réalisés en février et août 1997.

Le nombre total d'acariens obtenus avec les deux fumigations est de 5824 spécimens. La plupart d'entre eux (95%) ont été récoltés pendant la saison des pluies, et seulement 5% pendant la saison sèche. Les Mesostigmata sont représentés par 194 spécimens, les Prostigmata par 849 et les Cryptostigmata (oribates), de loin les plus abondants, par 4781 spécimens. Seulement 3% d'oribates ont été récoltés pendant la saison sèche et 97% pendant la saison des pluies.

Le chêne Quercus crassipes est l'espèce qui héberge le plus d'oribates aussi bien en saison sèche qu'en saison des pluies, et les acariens les plus abondants et fréquents sont Camisia sp., Phauloppia sp. et Scapheremaeus sp.

Keywords

oak canopiesoribatid mitesfoggingPhauloppiaScapheremaeusQuercuscanopée des chênesacarien oribatesfumigationPhauloppiaScapheremaeusQuercus
Type
Research Articles
Information
International Journal of Tropical Insect Science , Volume 23 , Issue 4 , December 2003 , pp. 287 - 292
Copyright
Copyright © ICIPE 2003

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Agustín Serrano, S. (2000) Contributión al estudio de los ácaros arborícolas oribátidos (Acarida: Cryptostigmata) de la selva baja caducifolia en Chamela, Jalisco, México. Tesis profesional. Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, Puebla, Mexico. 62 pp.Google Scholar
Aoki, J.-I. (1973) Soil mites (oribatids) climbing trees, pp. 59–65. In Proc. 3rd Inter. Congress of Acarology, 31 August-6 September 1971, Prague, Czech Republic (Edited by Daniel, M. and Rosicky, B.). W. Junk Publishers, The Hague.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Basset, Y. and Arthington, A. H. (1992) The arthropod community of an Australian rainforest tree: Abundance of component taxa, species richness and guild structure. Aust. J. Ecol. 17, 89–98.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Basset, Y., Novotny, V., Miller, S. E. and Kitching, R. L. (2003) Methodological advances and limitations in canopy entomology, pp. 7–16. In Arthropods of Tropical Forest (Edited by Basset, Y., Novotny, V., Miller, S. E. and Kitching, R. L.). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Behan-Pelletier, V. and Winchester, N. (1998) Arboreal oribatid mites diversity: Colonizing the canopy. Appl. Soil Ecol. 9, 45–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Iglesias, R., Palacios-Vargas, J. G. and Mahunka, S. (2001) New species of Trimalaconothrus from Mexico (Acari: Oribatei: Malaconothridae). Folia Entomol. Mex. 40, 67–81.Google Scholar
[INEGI] Institute Nacional de Estadística, Geogràfia e Informática (1992) Síntesis Geográfica del Estado de México. INEGI, México. 134 pp.Google Scholar
Mahunka, S. and Palacios-Vargas, J. G. (1995) Two new oribatid (Acari: Oribatida) species from the canopy of tropical dry forest in Mexico. Acta Zool. Acad. Sci. Hung. 41, 295–300.Google Scholar
Mahunka, S. and Palacios-Vargas, J. G. (1996) Reductoripoda absoluta Gen. et sp. nov. (Oripodidae) and a new Allozetes (Ceratozetidae) Berlese, 1913 species from México (Acari: Oribatida). Southwestern Entomol. 21, 465–469.Google Scholar
Melo, C. and López, J. (1994) Parque Nacional El Chico, marco geográfico-natural y propuesta de zonificación para su manejo operativo. Bol. Inst. Invest. Geog. 28, 65–128.Google Scholar
Norton, R. A. and Palacios-Vargas, J. G. (1982) Nueva Belba (Oribatei: Damaeidae) de musgos epifitos de Mexico. Folia. Entomol. Mex. 52, 61–63.Google Scholar
Norton, R. A. and Palacios-Vargas, J. G. (1987) A new arboreal Scheloribatidae, with ecological notes on epiphytic oribatid mites of Popocatépetl, México. Acarologia 28, 75–89.Google Scholar
Palacios-Vargas, J. G. (1982) Microartrópodos asociados a Bromeliáceas, pp. 535–545. In Actas del VIII Congreso Latinoamericano de Zoologia (Editado por Salinas, P. J.). Zoología Neotropical, Mèrida, Venezuela.Google Scholar
Palacios-Vargas, J. G. and Iglesias, R. (1997) Especies nuevas de Crotonioidea (Acarida: Oribatei: Nothroidea) de Mexico. Ann. Inst. Biol. UN AM, Ser. Zool. 68, 35–52.Google Scholar
Palacios-Vargas, J. G. and Norton, R. A. (1984) Dos nuevas especies de Trichoribates (Oribatei: Ceratozetidae) del Volcán Popocatépetl, México. Folia Entomol. Mex. 62, 89–109.Google Scholar
Palacios-Vargas, J. G. and Ríos, G. (1998) A new Scapheremaeus (Oribatei: Cymbaeremaeidae) from Central America. Rev. Nica. Entomol. 44, 33–39.Google Scholar
Palacios-Vargas, J. G. and Vázquez, I. (1988) A new arboreal Mycobates (Oribatei: Mycobatidae). Acarologia 29, 87–93.Google Scholar
Palacios-Vargas, J. G., Castaño-Meneses, G. and Gómez-Anaya, J. A. (1998) Collembola from the canopy of a Mexican tropical deciduous forest. Pan-Pacific Entomol. 74, 47–54.Google Scholar
Palacios-Vargas, J. G., Castaño-Meneses, G. and Pescador-Rubio, A. (1999a) Phenology of canopy arthropods of a tropical deciduous forest in Western Mexico. Pan-Pacific Entomol. 75, 200–211.Google Scholar
Palacios-Vargas, J. G., Ríos, G. and Vazquez, M. (1999b) A new Mexican Scapheremaeus (Oribatei: Cymbaeremaeidae) from tropical forests. Acarologia 39, 95–100.Google Scholar
Ríos, G. and Palacios-Vargas, J. G. (1998) Especies nuevas de Scapheremaeus (Acari: Oribatei: Cymbaeremaeidae) de México. Ann. Inst. Biol. UN AM., Ser. Zool. 69, 43–77.Google Scholar
Rzedowski, J. and Rzedowski, G. C. (Eds) (1991) Flora Fanerogàmica del Valle de México. Vol. I. 403 pp. Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, Institute Politécnico Nacional, México.Google Scholar
Tovar-Sánchez, E. (1999) Estructura de las comunidades de artrópodos epifitos asociados a los encinos (Quercus spp.) del Valle de Mexico. Tesis de Maestría. Facultad de Ciencias, UNAM. México. 90 pp.Google Scholar
Walter, D. E. and Behan-Pelletier, V. (1999) Mites in forest canopies: Filling the size distribution shortfall? Annu. Rev. Entomol. 44, 1–19.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Watanabe, H. and Ruaysoongnern, S. (1989) Estimation of arboreal arthropod density in a dry evergreen forest in Northeastern Thailand. J. Trop. Ecol. 5, 151–158.CrossRefGoogle Scholar