-
Recent Posts
Archives
- April 2016
- March 2016
- February 2016
- December 2015
- November 2015
- October 2015
- September 2015
- August 2015
- June 2015
- May 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- December 2014
- November 2014
- October 2014
- September 2014
- August 2014
- July 2014
- June 2014
- May 2014
- April 2014
- March 2014
- February 2014
- January 2014
- December 2013
- November 2013
- October 2013
- September 2013
- August 2013
- July 2013
- June 2013
- May 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
- February 2013
- January 2013
- November 2012
- October 2012
- September 2012
- August 2012
- July 2012
- June 2012
- May 2012
Categories
- 2015
- Acari
- Acariformes
- acarologist
- Alpha
- Amalfi Coast
- animal
- animals
- arachnid
- Arachnida
- Araneae
- arch
- architecture
- art
- Arthropoda
- artist
- artist's board
- artistic
- arts
- artsand me
- artsandme
- artwork
- Astigmata
- Astigmatina
- autumn
- bat
- Beautyness
- behavior
- berlin
- biologist
- bird spider
- bizarre
- black and white
- black colors
- blue
- Blue Grotto
- boats
- bodies
- Bonomoia
- Bonomoia opuntiae
- Bonomoia opuntiae Wirth
- brown
- Brussel sprout
- bushes
- cactus
- canvas
- canvas panel
- Capri
- carnival
- cars
- cave
- caves
- Chelicerata
- church
- close
- close-up
- cockroach
- Collage
- color
- colored
- colorful
- colorful. landscape
- colors
- colourful
- contrast
- creativity
- dark
- darkness
- dead bodies
- detail
- deutonymph
- digiart
- digital
- digital art
- diplopod
- Diplopoda
- diplopode
- diplopods
- discovering
- disturbing
- drawing
- dynamic
- ears
- eating
- ecology
- Europe
- evolutionary biologist
- experiment
- expressions
- face
- faces
- fauvism
- february
- feeding
- forest
- front
- frontal view
- Gastropoda
- Germany
- Grammostola rosea
- graphit
- green
- grey
- Grotto
- Gulf of Naples
- Gulf of Salerno
- hair
- harvestman
- head
- Histiostomatidae
- Histiostomatoidea
- house
- imressions
- in frront of Blue Grotto
- insect
- inspiration
- instar
- Italien
- Italy
- January
- jar
- lamp
- Landscape
- lens
- leopard slug
- light
- Limax maximus
- lunar eclipse
- macro
- macro objective
- mailbox
- mammal
- man
- March
- mediterranean
- Mediterranean Sea
- microscopy
- Milbe
- millipede
- mite
- mittelmeer
- mollusc
- mond
- Mondfinsternis
- monsters
- moon
- moss
- mountains
- movement
- Mygalomorpha
- Myriapoda
- nature
- November
- October
- oil painting
- oil pens
- old buildings
- Opilio
- Opilio canestrinii
- Opiliones
- Opuntia
- Opuntia ficus-indica
- painting
- parti-colored bat
- parti-coloured
- parti-coloured bat
- pen
- people
- photo
- photo collage
- photography
- photoshop
- plants
- Porta Nigra
- portrait
- Rasterelektronenmikroskopie
- rocks
- Russia
- Saarland
- scanning electron microscopy
- Sea
- SEM
- shadows
- sleeping
- slug
- snail
- Sony
- Sony alpha
- Sony Alpha 58
- Sorrentine Peninsula
- Sorrentine Pennsula
- Sorrento
- Sorretine Peninsula
- Southern Europe
- Southern Italy
- spiders
- stefan F. Wirh
- Stefan F. Wirth
- Stefan Wirth
- store windows
- street
- suckers
- summer
- surrealistic
- taxonomist
- Theraphosidae
- tram
- travelling
- trees
- Trier
- trilobite
- Tyumen
- Uncategorized
- underside
- Unterseite
- urban
- vegetation
- ventral view
- waiting
- wall
- widowsill
- wilderness
- wildlife
- window
- wings
- winter
- WWF
- yellow
Meta
Tag Archives: queen
Mausoleum in Black and White
Mausoleum in the park of Charlottenburg Palace, built up in 1810 for the Duchess Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Berlin, September/ October 20132. Copyrights Stefan F. Wirth
Phoretic Mite on Ant
SEM, deutonymph of phoretic mite Histiostoma blomquisti attached to the head of a queen of the Red Imported Fire Ant Solenopsis invicta. Berlin 2009/ 2013. Copyright Stefan F. Wirth
Mites attached to fire ant queens
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1NFH8OvA44&feature=plcp
The red imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta) is an invasive species in the Southern USA, originally being native in South America. The species disperses rapidly and eliminates in the US native insect species respectively native fire ants. Nests can be found nearly everywhere, on cemeteries as well as in private yards or along the streets. The hurtful sting of a worker can cause allergic reactions. To become able to control this ant, all kinds of knowledge about its biology are needed.
Not so much is known about cohabitants inside the ant nests. Many arthropods and other small animals are known to be regular coresidents in ant nests. Some studies about the biodiversity in the nests of S. invicta were already done. Often, there is not so much known about the biology of discovered species.
Several species of mites live in the fire ant nests. Some belong to the Astigmata. At least 3 species of Histiostomatidae (subgroup of the Astigmata) were discovered. They obviously all represent new species. A colleague and me, weI described Histiostoma blomquisti as a new species.
Many details about its biology/ecology are still unknown. We know that the phoretic dispersal stage, the deutonymph, attaches only active queens and female alates (only accidentally sometimes males). Female alates are used as carriers for the phoretic transport. They carry the mites from one nest into a new one. That way they act as a kind of stowaways. They leave the ants inside the nest to continue their development. So far, it’s not exactly known, where adults feed and reproduce inside the ant nests. Under natural conditions active nest queens can be attached by this mite in great numbers. The queen depicted in this film was collected with this mass of mite deutonymphs I the field. It’s not a laboratory artefact to be attached by much more than hundred mite deutonymphs. Why also active queens are attached is still unknown.
The species description as well as some biological information are published:
WIRTH S. & MOSER J. C. (2010): Histiostoma blomquisti N. SP. (Acari: Histiostomatidae) A phoretic mite of the red imported ant, Solenopsis invicta Buren (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Acarologia 50(3):357-371.
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Acari, Acarologie, acarology, alate, ant queen, Artenvielfalt, Astigmata, Ökologie, behaviour, biodiversity, biology, carrier, cohabitants, control, deutonymph, Deutonymphe, dispersal, ecology, evolution, female alate, Feuerameise, fire ants, Histiostoma, Histiostoma blomquisti, Histiostomatidae, insects, Milben, mites, nest, pest, Phoresie, phoresy, queen, red imported fire ant, research, Saugnapfplatte, Solenopsis invicta, Stefan F. Wirth, Stefan Wirth, Strategy, sucker plate, Verbreitung
Leave a comment