Heterozerconidae: A comparison between a temperate and a tropical species

Abstract

A comparative field study was performed between a tropical species and a temperate species of Heterozerconidae (Acari: Mesostigmata). The temperate species, Narceoheterozercon ohioensis Gerdeman and Klompen, is a long-lived mite, which shares an intricate relationship with its host millipede, Narceus annularis(Rafinesque) (Diplopoda: Spirobolida: Spirobolidae). The phenology between these mites and their millipede host shows coinciding periods of oviposition and mating, with both producing a single generation/year. Although the adults appear to feed on the exudates of the millipedes and are rarely separated, the immatures, developing during the summer, have adapted to a free-living, predatory lifestyle within the millipede ‘nest-sites’ of fallen logs. In contrast, the relationship between a Philippine heterozerconid, Allozercon sp., and its host millipede (Diplopoda: Spirobolida: Rhinocricidae) is less constrained. In these tropical species, both the millipedes and their associated heterozerconids produce multiple generations/ year. Millipede mating is no longer a synchronous event and immatures are found throughout the year in localized accumulations of millipede frass, beneath the forest litter.