Trigonholaspis

Harmfulness rating

HARMFUL | NOT HARMFUL | UNCERTAIN

lives in bee nests; details of biology unknown

Name

Trigonholaspis Vitzthum, 1930Vitzthum, 1930:
Vitzthum, H. G. 1930. Acarologische Beobachtungen. (14 Reihe.). Zoologische Jahrbücher. Abteilung für Systematik, Geographie und Biologie der Tiere 281-350.

Taxonomy

Superorder Parasitiformes » Order Mesostigmata » Suborder Monogynaspida » Hyporder Dermanyssiae » Family Macrochelidae » Genus Trigonholaspis

Type species

Trigonholaspis salti Vitzthum, 1930Vitzthum, 1930:
Vitzthum, H. G. 1930. Acarologische Beobachtungen. (14 Reihe.). Zoologische Jahrbücher. Abteilung für Systematik, Geographie und Biologie der Tiere 281-350.

Common synonyms

Grafia Krantz, 1962Krantz, 1962:
Krantz, G. W. 1962. A review of the genera of the family Macrochelidae Vitzthum 1930 (Acarina: Mesostigmata). Acarologia 4: 143-173.

Diagnosis

Female: Claws or ambulacraambulacrum:
The claws and empodium of the apotele or pretarsus.
on leg I absent but present on tarsitarsus:
Terminal segment (also known as podomere or palpomere) of legs or palps. In Parasitoformes it can be subdivided into telotarsus and basitarsus.
II-IV (Fig. 1). Two brushes present at base of movable digit (Fig. 2). Peritremeperitreme:
Paired, tubular, elaborated extensions of a tracheal system associated with stigmatic openings. Can be chambered, arch-like, and situated on the bases of chelicerae as in Cheyletidae (Prostigmata) or, in Mesostigmata, linear and situated on the lateral sides of the body.
looped and enters stigma posteriorly (Figs. 2, 4). Trigonholaspis can be distinguished from all other macrochelid genera by the presence of four pairs of opisthonotalopisthonotal:
Pertaining to dorsal opisthosoma.
dorsocentral setae (J1, J2, J3, J5) (Fig. 1) and by the presence of dorsal "hump" on the idiosomaidiosoma:
Body not including the gnathosoma.
(Fig. 1). In other macrochelids, there are two, rarely three, pairs of opisthonotalopisthonotal:
Pertaining to dorsal opisthosoma.
dorsocentral setae and the "hump" is absent.

Species identification

The four known species, all from the nest of Trigona amalthea (Apidae: Meliponini) from Colombia, can be identified using the original descriptions (Vitzthum, 1930Vitzthum, 1930:
Vitzthum, H. G. 1930. Acarologische Beobachtungen. (14 Reihe.). Zoologische Jahrbücher. Abteilung für Systematik, Geographie und Biologie der Tiere 281-350.). In addition, there is a relatively large number of undescribed species. For example, five new species have been reported from Brazil (Krantz, 1998bKrantz, 1998b:
Krantz, G. W. 1998b. Observations on five rarely collected genera of Macrochelidae (Acari: Mesostigmata) associated with insects. Acarologia. 39: 95-109.) and one from Panama (our data).

Distribution

Neotropical region

Bee hosts

stingless bees (Meliponini)

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 stingless bees. Feeding habits are unknown.
• Dispersal on bees is not documented, but female mites may be phoreticphoretic:
  Pertaining to phoresy; using another organism (i.e., a host) for dispersal to new habitats. Phoresy can be distinguished from parasitism because feeding typically does not occur during phoresy.
  on adult bees.

Biology

The biology of this group is virtually unknown. Salt reported his observations on several species of Trigonholaspis associated with Trigona amalthea (Salt, 1929Salt, 1929:
Salt, G. 1929. A contribution to the ethology of the Meliponinae. Transactions of the Entomological Society of London.77: 431-468+29 Plates.), though multiple mite species were likely present. He found that Trigonholaspis was very abundant on combs but not on pollen- and honey-pots. In a few cases, mites were found inside closed cells. Of them, one mite was attached to the middle leg of the bee pupa.