Understanding the ecology and evolutionary history of symbionts and their hosts requires accurate... more Understanding the ecology and evolutionary history of symbionts and their hosts requires accurate taxonomic knowledge, including clear species boundaries and phylogenies. Tortoise mites (Mesostigmata: Uropodoidea) are among the most diverse arthropod associates of bark beetles (Curculionidae: Scolytinae), but their taxonomy and host associations are largely unstudied. We tested the hypotheses that (1) morphologically defined species are supported by molecular data, and that (2) bark beetle uropodoids with a broad host range comprise cryptic species. To do so, we assessed the species boundaries of uropodoid mites collected from 51 host species, across 11 countries and 103 sites, using morphometric data as well as partial cytochrome oxidase I (COI) and nuclear large subunit ribosomal DNA (28S). Overall, morphologically defined species were confirmed by molecular datasets, with a few exceptions. Twenty-nine of the 36 uropodoid species (Trichouropoda, Nenteria and Uroobovella) collected in this study had narrow host ranges, while seven species had putative broad host ranges. In all but one species, U. orri, our data supported the existence of these host generalists, which contrasts with the typical finding that widespread generalists are actually complexes of cryptic specialists.
Little is known about the acarofauna associated with wood-boring beetles in Canada, including lon... more Little is known about the acarofauna associated with wood-boring beetles in Canada, including long-horned beetles (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae). Herein, we assessed the prevalence, abundance, diversity, phenology, and attachment location of mesostigmatic mites (Acari: Mesostigmata) associated with Monochamus scutellatus (Say), and tested whether the abundance and prevalence of mites differed between male and female beetles. A total of 176 beetles were collected in two sites in eastern Ontario in 2008 and 2009 using Lindgren funnel traps baited with a-pinene and ethanol lures, and 71% of hosts had mesostigmatic mites. A total of 2486 mites were collected, representing eight species, four genera, and three families (Digamasellidae, Trematuridae, and Melicharidae). Average prevalence was variable across mite species, and the number of mites per infested beetle also varied across species. Many of the mite species collected in this study have been reported from other cerambycid species, as well as from other wood-boring beetles, such as bark beetles. There was no significant sex bias in the abundance or prevalence of mites between male and female M. scutellatus, which suggests that there is no selective advantage for mites to disperse on females. This study represents the first quantitative investigation of the mites associated with M. scutellatus in Canada. Résumé-On connaît peu au sujet de la faune d'acariens associée aux scolytes au Canada, y compris celle associée aux longicornes (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae). Nous avons évalué la prévalence, l'abondance, la diversité, la phénologie et l'emplacement sur l'hôte des acariens mésostigmates (Acari: Mesostigmata) associés à Monochamus scutellatus (Say), et testé si l'abondance et la prévalence des acariens différaient entre les coléoptères mâles et femelles. Un total de 176 coléoptères a été récolté dans deux sites en Est de l'Ontario en 2008 et 2009 en utilisant des pièges à entonnoir Lindgren appâtés avec des leurres d'a-pinène et d'éthanol, et 71% des hôtes avait des acariens mésostigmates. Un total de 2486 acariens a été récolté, représentant huit espèces, quatre genres et trois familles (Digamasellidae, Trematuridae et Melicharidae). La prévalence moyenne varie selon les espèces d'acariens, et le nombre d'acariens par coléoptère infesté varie également selon les espèces. Plusieurs des espèces d'acariens récoltés durant cette étude ont été signalées sur d'autres espèces de cérambycidés, ainsi que sur d'autres coléoptères xylophages, comme les scolytes. Aucun biais significatif n'a été observé dans l'abondance ou la prévalence des acariens entre mâles et femelles M. scutellatus, ce qui suggère qu'il n'y a pas d'avantage sélectif pour les acariens à migrer sur des hôtes femelles. Cette étude représente le premier inventaire quantitatif des acariens associés à M. scutellatus au Canada.
Summaries of taxonomic knowledge are provided for all acarine groups in Canada, accompanied by re... more Summaries of taxonomic knowledge are provided for all acarine groups in Canada, accompanied by references to relevant publications, changes in classification at the family level since 1979, and notes on biology relevant to estimating their diversity. Nearly 3000 described species from 269 families are recorded in the country, representing a 56% increase from the 1917 species reported by Lindquist et al. (1979). An additional 42 families are known from Canada only from material identified to family- or genus-level. Of the total 311 families known in Canada, 69 are newly recorded since 1979, excluding apparent new records due solely to classification changes. This substantial progress is most evident in Oribatida and Hydrachnidia, for which many regional checklists and family-level revisions have been published. Except for recent taxonomic leaps in a few other groups, particularly of symbiotic mites (Astigmata: feather mites; Mesostigmata: Rhinonyssidae), knowledge remains limited for most other taxa, for which most species records are unpublished and may require verification. Taxonomic revisions are greatly needed for a large majority of families in Canada. Based in part on species recorded in adjacent areas of the USA and on hosts known to be present here, we conservatively estimate that nearly 10,000 species of mites occur in Canada, but the actual number could be 15,000 or more. This means that at least 70% of Canada’s mite fauna is yet unrecorded. Much work also remains to match existing molecular data with species names, as less than 10% of the ~7500 Barcode Index Numbers for Canadian mites in the Barcode of Life Database are associated with named species. Understudied hosts and terrestrial and aquatic habitats require investigation across Canada to uncover new species and to clarify geographic and ecological distributions of known species.
Understanding the ecology and evolutionary history of symbionts and their hosts requires accurate... more Understanding the ecology and evolutionary history of symbionts and their hosts requires accurate taxonomic knowledge, including clear species boundaries and phylogenies. Tortoise mites (Mesostigmata: Uropodoidea) are among the most diverse arthropod associates of bark beetles (Curculionidae: Scolytinae), but their taxonomy and host associations are largely unstudied. We tested the hypotheses that (1) morphologically defined species are supported by molecular data, and that (2) bark beetle uropodoids with a broad host range comprise cryptic species. To do so, we assessed the species boundaries of uropodoid mites collected from 51 host species, across 11 countries and 103 sites, using morphometric data as well as partial cytochrome oxidase I (COI) and nuclear large subunit ribosomal DNA (28S). Overall, morphologically defined species were confirmed by molecular datasets, with a few exceptions. Twenty-nine of the 36 uropodoid species (Trichouropoda, Nenteria and Uroobovella) collected in this study had narrow host ranges, while seven species had putative broad host ranges. In all but one species, U. orri, our data supported the existence of these host generalists, which contrasts with the typical finding that widespread generalists are actually complexes of cryptic specialists.
Little is known about the acarofauna associated with wood-boring beetles in Canada, including lon... more Little is known about the acarofauna associated with wood-boring beetles in Canada, including long-horned beetles (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae). Herein, we assessed the prevalence, abundance, diversity, phenology, and attachment location of mesostigmatic mites (Acari: Mesostigmata) associated with Monochamus scutellatus (Say), and tested whether the abundance and prevalence of mites differed between male and female beetles. A total of 176 beetles were collected in two sites in eastern Ontario in 2008 and 2009 using Lindgren funnel traps baited with a-pinene and ethanol lures, and 71% of hosts had mesostigmatic mites. A total of 2486 mites were collected, representing eight species, four genera, and three families (Digamasellidae, Trematuridae, and Melicharidae). Average prevalence was variable across mite species, and the number of mites per infested beetle also varied across species. Many of the mite species collected in this study have been reported from other cerambycid species, as well as from other wood-boring beetles, such as bark beetles. There was no significant sex bias in the abundance or prevalence of mites between male and female M. scutellatus, which suggests that there is no selective advantage for mites to disperse on females. This study represents the first quantitative investigation of the mites associated with M. scutellatus in Canada. Résumé-On connaît peu au sujet de la faune d'acariens associée aux scolytes au Canada, y compris celle associée aux longicornes (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae). Nous avons évalué la prévalence, l'abondance, la diversité, la phénologie et l'emplacement sur l'hôte des acariens mésostigmates (Acari: Mesostigmata) associés à Monochamus scutellatus (Say), et testé si l'abondance et la prévalence des acariens différaient entre les coléoptères mâles et femelles. Un total de 176 coléoptères a été récolté dans deux sites en Est de l'Ontario en 2008 et 2009 en utilisant des pièges à entonnoir Lindgren appâtés avec des leurres d'a-pinène et d'éthanol, et 71% des hôtes avait des acariens mésostigmates. Un total de 2486 acariens a été récolté, représentant huit espèces, quatre genres et trois familles (Digamasellidae, Trematuridae et Melicharidae). La prévalence moyenne varie selon les espèces d'acariens, et le nombre d'acariens par coléoptère infesté varie également selon les espèces. Plusieurs des espèces d'acariens récoltés durant cette étude ont été signalées sur d'autres espèces de cérambycidés, ainsi que sur d'autres coléoptères xylophages, comme les scolytes. Aucun biais significatif n'a été observé dans l'abondance ou la prévalence des acariens entre mâles et femelles M. scutellatus, ce qui suggère qu'il n'y a pas d'avantage sélectif pour les acariens à migrer sur des hôtes femelles. Cette étude représente le premier inventaire quantitatif des acariens associés à M. scutellatus au Canada.
Summaries of taxonomic knowledge are provided for all acarine groups in Canada, accompanied by re... more Summaries of taxonomic knowledge are provided for all acarine groups in Canada, accompanied by references to relevant publications, changes in classification at the family level since 1979, and notes on biology relevant to estimating their diversity. Nearly 3000 described species from 269 families are recorded in the country, representing a 56% increase from the 1917 species reported by Lindquist et al. (1979). An additional 42 families are known from Canada only from material identified to family- or genus-level. Of the total 311 families known in Canada, 69 are newly recorded since 1979, excluding apparent new records due solely to classification changes. This substantial progress is most evident in Oribatida and Hydrachnidia, for which many regional checklists and family-level revisions have been published. Except for recent taxonomic leaps in a few other groups, particularly of symbiotic mites (Astigmata: feather mites; Mesostigmata: Rhinonyssidae), knowledge remains limited for most other taxa, for which most species records are unpublished and may require verification. Taxonomic revisions are greatly needed for a large majority of families in Canada. Based in part on species recorded in adjacent areas of the USA and on hosts known to be present here, we conservatively estimate that nearly 10,000 species of mites occur in Canada, but the actual number could be 15,000 or more. This means that at least 70% of Canada’s mite fauna is yet unrecorded. Much work also remains to match existing molecular data with species names, as less than 10% of the ~7500 Barcode Index Numbers for Canadian mites in the Barcode of Life Database are associated with named species. Understudied hosts and terrestrial and aquatic habitats require investigation across Canada to uncover new species and to clarify geographic and ecological distributions of known species.
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Papers by F. Beaulieu
to relevant publications, changes in classification at the family level since 1979, and notes on biology
relevant to estimating their diversity. Nearly 3000 described species from 269 families are recorded in the
country, representing a 56% increase from the 1917 species reported by Lindquist et al. (1979). An additional
42 families are known from Canada only from material identified to family- or genus-level. Of the
total 311 families known in Canada, 69 are newly recorded since 1979, excluding apparent new records
due solely to classification changes. This substantial progress is most evident in Oribatida and Hydrachnidia,
for which many regional checklists and family-level revisions have been published. Except for recent
taxonomic leaps in a few other groups, particularly of symbiotic mites (Astigmata: feather mites; Mesostigmata:
Rhinonyssidae), knowledge remains limited for most other taxa, for which most species records are
unpublished and may require verification. Taxonomic revisions are greatly needed for a large majority of families in Canada. Based in part on species recorded in adjacent areas of the USA and on hosts known to
be present here, we conservatively estimate that nearly 10,000 species of mites occur in Canada, but the
actual number could be 15,000 or more. This means that at least 70% of Canada’s mite fauna is yet unrecorded.
Much work also remains to match existing molecular data with species names, as less than 10%
of the ~7500 Barcode Index Numbers for Canadian mites in the Barcode of Life Database are associated
with named species. Understudied hosts and terrestrial and aquatic habitats require investigation across
Canada to uncover new species and to clarify geographic and ecological distributions of known species.
to relevant publications, changes in classification at the family level since 1979, and notes on biology
relevant to estimating their diversity. Nearly 3000 described species from 269 families are recorded in the
country, representing a 56% increase from the 1917 species reported by Lindquist et al. (1979). An additional
42 families are known from Canada only from material identified to family- or genus-level. Of the
total 311 families known in Canada, 69 are newly recorded since 1979, excluding apparent new records
due solely to classification changes. This substantial progress is most evident in Oribatida and Hydrachnidia,
for which many regional checklists and family-level revisions have been published. Except for recent
taxonomic leaps in a few other groups, particularly of symbiotic mites (Astigmata: feather mites; Mesostigmata:
Rhinonyssidae), knowledge remains limited for most other taxa, for which most species records are
unpublished and may require verification. Taxonomic revisions are greatly needed for a large majority of families in Canada. Based in part on species recorded in adjacent areas of the USA and on hosts known to
be present here, we conservatively estimate that nearly 10,000 species of mites occur in Canada, but the
actual number could be 15,000 or more. This means that at least 70% of Canada’s mite fauna is yet unrecorded.
Much work also remains to match existing molecular data with species names, as less than 10%
of the ~7500 Barcode Index Numbers for Canadian mites in the Barcode of Life Database are associated
with named species. Understudied hosts and terrestrial and aquatic habitats require investigation across
Canada to uncover new species and to clarify geographic and ecological distributions of known species.