Parapygmephorus

Harmfulness rating

HARMFUL | NOT HARMFUL | UNCERTAIN

neutral to beneficial; feed on some component of bee larvae feces in nest

Name

Parapygmephorus Cross, 1965

Taxonomy

Superorder Acariformes » Order Trombidiformes » Suborder Prostigmata » Infraorder Eleutherengona » Hyporder Heterostigmata » Family Neopygmephoridae » Genus Parapygmephorus

Type species

Parapygmephorus (Parapygmephorus) natalensis Cross, 1965

Common synonyms

Different authors include Sicilipes as a subgenus in Parapygmephorus (accepted here) or treat Sicilipes as a separate genus.

Diagnosis

Female: Tergite C not covering prodorsumprodorsum:
Dorsal surface of propodosoma.
(Fig. 1). Two pairs of propodosomal dorsal setae, v2 and sc2 (Figs. 1, 4). Leg I four-segmented, with tarsustarsus:
Terminal segment (also known as podomere or palpomere) of legs or palps. In Parasitoformes it can be subdivided into telotarsus and basitarsus.
and tibiatibia:
Leg or palp segment (also known as podomere or palpomere) between tarsus and genu.
I fused forming tibiotarsus (Fig. 1). Two pairs of setae on each coxaecoxa:
In Parasitiformes, most basal leg segment (or podomere) forming a joint with the body. Areas delimited by coxal apodemes are called coxal fields in Astigmata or coxisternal plates in Prostigmata.
I-II (Fig. 2). Claw I large, not striated (Figs. 1, 2). Tarsustarsus:
Terminal segment (also known as podomere or palpomere) of legs or palps. In Parasitoformes it can be subdivided into telotarsus and basitarsus.
IV with claws (Fig. 1). Trochantertrochanter:
Leg or palp segment (also known as podomere or palpomere) between femur and coxa. In Acariformes this is the most basal movable leg segment (or podomere) forming a joint with the body.
IV subquadrate (not triangular) (Fig. 2). In the subgenus Sicilipes, tibiotarsus I widened, distinctly wider than femurfemur:
Leg or palp segment (also known as podomere or palpomere) between genu and trochanter. In ParasitIformes can be subdivided into telofemur and basifemur.
and genugenu:
Leg or palp segment (also known as podomere or palpomere) between tibia and femur.
I (Fig. 2), while in Parapygmephorus it is not distinctly wider.

Species identification

A dichotomous key is available in Fan et al., 2014Fan et al., 2014:
Fan, Q.-H., A. A. Khaustov amp; B. Donovan. 2014. The redescription of Parapygmephorus luxtoni (Mahunka, 1970) comb. nov (Acari: Neopygmephoridae) phoretic on bees of the family Colletidae (Hymenoptera) from New Zealand. Systematic and Applied Acarology.19: 373-380., which excludes species classified in the subgenus Sicilipes.

Similar genera

See Bakerdania

Distribution

Parapygmephorus (s. str.) and Sicilipes found in association with bees: Neotropical region (Costa Rica and Mexico), Palaearctic region (Ukraine, Russia, Egypt, North Korea, Afghanistan, Japan, and Iran); Afrotropical region (South Africa), Australian region (New Zealand), and Nearctic region (United States).

Bee hosts

Typically associated with ground-nesting bees of the families Halictidae (Nomia, Lipotriches, Halictus, Agapostemon, Sphecodes [a kleptoparasite], and Augochlora) and Colletidae (Leioproctus and Paracolletes). One record is from the orchard mason bee Osmia rufa.

Host association level

permanentpermanent:
associated exclusively with bees or their close relative, wasps; cannot live without these hosts

Host associations, feeding, and dispersal

• All stages live in nests of bees, where they possibly feed on some component or contaminant of bee larva feces.
• Mite females disperse on adult host bees (preferring female bees) or their kleptoparasiteskleptoparasite:
  An animal that takes prey or other food from another animal that has caught, collected, or otherwise prepared the food, including stored food. Both kleptoparasitic bees and kleptoparasitic mites feed on food provisioned in the host bee nest. Kleptoparasitic bees do not make their own nests; they stealthily deposit eggs in the nest of a bee host and can act as phoretic hosts for mites only because they deliver them to nests of actual bee hosts. Variant spelling: cleptoparasite.
  (i.e., Sphecodes).

Biology

Mites of the genus Parapygmephorus (sensu stricto) and the subgenus Sicilipes are associated with ground-nesting halictid and colletid bees, although a single species (P. undosus Rack, 1980) was found on a pompilid wasp, and host associations of another (P. (S.) fengxiannus) are unclear.

Biological observations are available only for a single species, Parapygmephorus costaricanus, associated with the ground nesting halictid bee Agapostemon nasutus in Costa Rica (Rack and Eickwort, 1980Rack and Eickwort, 1980:
Rack, G. amp; G. C. Eickwort. 1980. Biology and description of a new pygmephorid mite (Acarina: Tarsonemida) associated with the soil-nesting bee Agapostemon nasutus (Hymenoptera: Halictidae). Acarologia . 21 : 267-278.). The life cycles of both the bee and the mite are known in detail, but the food source of P. costaricanus is not known with certainty.