A new species of Thyreophagus (Acari: Acaridae) from Brazil, with notes on species associated with stored food and human habitats and a key to species of this genus.

A new species Thyreophagus cracentiseta n. sp. is described morphologically based on adult females, adult homeomorphic and heteromorphic males collected from chicken feed in Brazil. The Thyreophagus species associated with stored food and human habitats are reviewed, and a key to separate species of this genus is provided.

Potential of astigmatid mites (Acari: Astigmatina) as prey for rearing edaphic predatory mites of the families Laelapidae and Rhodacaridae (Acari: Mesostigmata).

Laelapidae and Rhodacaridae are important families of edaphic predatory mites and species of these families have been considered for use in biological control programs of soil pests. Mites of Cohort Astigmatina (Acari: Sarcoptiformes) have been largely used as factitious prey in the mass rearing of various edaphic or plant-inhabiting predatory mites. Stratiolaelaps scimitus (Womersley) (Mesostigmata: Laelapidae) (widely commercialized for the control of fungus gnats and thrips) and Protogamasellopsis zaheri Abo-Shnaf, Castilho and Moraes (Mesostigmata: Rhodacaridae) (not available commercially but promising for the control of thrips and nematodes) are known to be reared on Tyrophagus putrescentiae (Schrank) (Astigmatina: Acaridae), but the possibility to find a perhaps more efficient prey has not been evaluated. The objective of this paper was to evaluate different astigmatid species as prey for these predators. S. scimitus and P. zaheri oviposited on all evaluated astigmatids and the acarid mites T. putrescentiae and Aleuroglyphus ovatus (Tropeau) were the most suitable prey; to confirm the effect of prey on oviposition rates, pregnant females of the predators were kept under starvation conditions and oviposition was negligible or null. Survivorship was always higher than 78 % and was not influenced by prey species or starvation.

Ácaros em produtos armazenados comercializados em supermercados e feiras livres da cidade do Recife / Mites in stored foods commercialized in supermarkets and markets in Recife

Este trabalho teve como objetivo avaliar a acarofauna em grãos de feijão, milho e ração em supermercados e feiras livres da cidade do Recife, PE. Em cada estabelecimento foi coletada uma amostra de 500 g de cada grão e ração, em intervalos bimensais, no período de agosto/2002 a junho/2003. Cada amostra foi dividida em duas sub-amostras de 250 g. Uma delas foi submetida à extração de ácaros logo após a coleta e a outra foi incubada a 26°C e umidade relativa de 78 por cento por 30 dias. Ao final desse período a segunda sub-amostra foi processada da mesma forma que a primeira. Os ácaros foram montados em lâminas para microscopia em meio de Hoyer e identificados pelo menos até o nível de gênero. Foram coletados 11.956 ácaros pertencentes às famílias Acaridae, Ebertiidae, Glycyphagidae, Cheyletidae, Stigmaeidae, Pyemotidae, Tarsonemidae, Tydeidae, Cunaxidae, Ameroseiidae, Ascidae e Phytoseiidae. Dentre os ácaros primários, a espécie Suidasia medanensis Oudemans foi a predominante no levantamento (3.035 indivíduos), seguida de Caloglyphus hughesi (Samsinak) (436 indivíduos). Metapronematus sp. foi predominante (3.417 indivíduos), dentre os ácaros secundários, seguido de Tarsonemus granarius Lindquist (3.003). O número de ácaros coletados nas amostras incubadas foi sempre superior em relação às amostras não incubadas, assim como nas amostras de feira livre em relação às de supermercado.

The mite fauna was assessed in bean, maize and pet food in supermarkets and markets in Recife, PE, Brazil. A 500 g sample of each grain and food was collected in each establishment at two weekly intervals, from August 2002 to June 2003. The sample was divided into two 250 g sub-samples. One of them was submitted to spider mite evaluation shortly after collection and the other was incubated at 26°C and 78 percent humidity for 30 days. At the end of this period the second sub-sample was processed in the same way as the first. The spider mites were mounted on slides for microscopy in Hoyer medium and identified at least at genus level. Eleven thousand nine hundred and fifty-six spider mites were collected belonging to the Acaridae, Ebertiidae, Glycyphagidae, Cheyletidae, Stigmaeidae, Pyemotidae, Tarsonemidae, Tydeidae, Cunaxidae, Ameroseiidae, Ascidae e Phytoseiidae families. Among the primary spider mites the Suidasia medanensis Oudemans species was predominant in the survey (3,035 individuals) followed by Caloglyphus hughesi (Samsinak) (436 individuals). Metapronematus sp. was predominant (3,417 individuals) among the secondary spider mites followed by Tarsonemus granarius Lindquist (3,003). The number of mites collected in the incubated samples was always greater compared to the non-incubated samples in both the market and supermarket samples.