The Biodiversity of Water Mites That Prey on and Parasitize Mosquitoes

Diversity

JeffreyL. Ram¹  BanaA. Kabalan²  AdrianA. Vasquez³  CarolJ. Miller³ 

[1] Department of Physiology, School of Medicine Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48201, USA;Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences Program, School of Forest Resources and Conservation, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA;Healthy Urban Waters, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48202, USA;

关键词: Arrenurus;    Lebertia quinquemaculosa;    Lake St. Clair Metropark;    Belle Isle;    Detroit;    phoresy;   

DOI  :  10.3390/d12060226

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Water mites form one of the most biodiverse groups within the aquatic arachnid class. These freshwater macroinvertebrates are predators and parasites of the equally diverse nematocerous Dipterans, such as mosquitoes, and water mites are believed to have diversified as a result of these predatory and parasitic relationships. Through these two major biotic interactions, water mites have been found to greatly impact a variety of mosquito species. Although these predatory and parasitic interactions are important in aquatic ecology, very little is known about the diversity of water mites that interact with mosquitoes. In this paper, we review and update the past literature on the predatory and parasitic mite–mosquito relationships, update past records, discuss the biogeographic range of these interactions, and add our own recent findings on this topic conducted in habitats around the Laurentian Great Lakes. The possible impact on human health, along with the importance of water mite predator–prey dynamics in aquatic food webs, motivates an increase in future research on this aquatic predator and parasite and may reveal novel ecological functions that these parasitic and predator–prey relationships mediate.

【 授权许可】

Unknown