Taxonomic position

Cohort Gamasina

Subcohort Parasitiae

Family: Parasitidae Oudemans

Subfamily: Parasitinae

Gamasodes Oudemans - deutonymphs

 

Diagnostic characters:

• Dorsal shield divided

• Seta z5 simple or stout and distally pilose

• Spurs on leg II femur (on tubercles), genu, and usually tibia and tarsus.

 

Similar taxa:

Key to some Gamasodes deutonymphs

1.  Tibia II with 1 ventral spur; > 2 pairs of dorsal setae stout and distally pilose............. 2

 -  Tibia II with 2 ventral spurs; only dorsal setae j1 and r3 stout and distally pilose............. G. bispinosus (Halbert)

2.  With more than one spur on femur II ............. Gamasodes spp.

 -  With a spine spur on the venter of femur II............. 3

3.  Spur on femur II straight; tectum with median process and weakly lateral teeth............. G. fimbriatus Karg

 -  Spur on femur II curved; tectum clearly tripartite............. G. spiniger (Trägårdh)

 

Species: ca. 25 described species: Gamasodes aequipilis Athias-Henriot, 1980 (Iceland), Gamasodes assamensis Bhattacharyya, 1971 (India), Gamasodes bispinosus (Halbert, 1915) (Europe, USSR), Gamasodes buettikeri Samšiňák, 1979 (Saudi Arabia), Gamasodes bulgatus Athias-Henriot, 1979 (Canary Islands), Gamasodes coprophilus Chelebiev, 1980 (USSR), Gamasodes corniculans Athias-Henriot, 1978 (Mongolia), Gamasodes diceras Athias-Henriot, 1980 (Europe), Gamasodes fimbriatus Karg, 1971 (Europe), Gamasodes guoluoensis Gu and Liu, 1995 (China), Gamasodes hortivagus (Berlese, 1903) (Europe, Algeria, Canary Islands [= Gamasodes cabylus Athias-Henriot 1961], Gamasodes ignoratus Oudemans, 1939b (Europe), Gamasodes inermis Athias-Henriot, 1978 (Mongolia), Gamasodes marmotae Ma, 1992 (China), Gamasodes micherdzinskii Davydova, 1973 (USSR, China), Gamasodes miliaris Athias-Henriot, 1980 (Morocco), Gamasodes nudus Tseng, 1995 (Taiwan), Gamasodes plenigranosus Athias-Henriot, 1979 (Madagascar), Gamasodes poppei (Oudemans, 1903) (Europe), Gamasodes queenslandicus Halliday and Walter, sp. nov., Gamasodes simplex Athias-Henriot, 1978 (Mongolia), Gamasodes sinicus Tian and Gu, 1991 (China), Gamasodes spiniger (Trägårdh 1910) (Europe) type species [ = Gamasoides spiniger Oudemans 1936 (nom nov pro Gamasus spinipes (Koch 1844), Gamasodes berlesei Oudemans 1939b. nom nov pro Gamasus spinipes (Koch 1844), Parasitus lunarisimilis Schweizer, 1961], Gamasodes tongdensis Li et al., 1999 (China), Gamasodes viretianus Athias-Henriot, 1980 (Europe)

Ecology.  Soil-inhabiting predators of small arthropods and other invertebrates; several species have been found in the nests of birds and mammals and one species in rotting fungal sporocarps; phoretic on muscid and drosophilid flies (rarely on dung beetles).

 

 

References

Athias-Henriot, C. 1961. Physallolaelaps ampulliger Berl et Gamasodes cabylus n sp (Parasitiformes: Laelaptidae, Parasitidae). Acarologia 3, 256-264.

Athias-Henriot, C. 1978. Deutonymphen der Gattung Gamasodes Oudms (Parasitiformes, Parasitidae) aus der Mongolei. Annales Historico-Naturales Musei Nationalis Hungarici 70, 345-348.

 Athias-Henriot, C. 1979. Sur le groupe d’espèces “bispinosus” du genre Gamasodes Oudemans, 1939 (Parasitiformes, Parasitidae). Bulletin Société Zoologique du France 104, 209-220.

 Athias-Henriot, C. 1980. Recapitulatory note on composition and geography of the genus Gamasodes Ouds (Parasitiformes, Parasitidae), with a description of four new species. Biologisch Jaarboek 48, 50-62.

 Berlese, A. 1903. Acari nuovi Manipulus Ius. Redia 1, 235-252.

 Bhattacharyya, S. K. 1971. Studies on Indian mites (Acarina: Mesostigmata) 10 One new species and five records from Assam. Oriental Insects 5, 495-500.

 Chelebiev, K. A. 1980. On mites of the genus Gamasodes (Parasitiformes, Parasitidae) from central Kazakhstan. Zoologicheskii Zhurnal 59, 1098-1100.

 Davydova, M. S. 1973. Description of new species from the genus Gamasodes and the male of Veigaia beklemischevi (Parasitiformes, Gamasoidea). In Cherepanov, A I (ed) New and Little-known Species of Siberian fauna Volume 6 (Nauka, Novosibirsk) pp. 103-112.

Fenda, P. 1999. First records of mites (Acarina, Mesostigmata) from Slovakia. Biologia, Bratislava 54, 528.

Gu, Y. M. and Liu, J. O. 1995. A new species of the genus Gamasodes from China (Acari: Parasitidae). Acta Zootaxonomica Sinica 20, 65-67.

Halbert, J. N. 1915. Acarinida Section II – Terrestrial and marine Acarina. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 31, 45-136.

 Holzmann, C. 1969. Die Familie Parasitidae Oudemans 1901. Acarologie. Schriftenreihe fr Vergleichende Milbenkunde 13, 2-55 + 23 Plates.

 Hyatt, K. H. 1980. Mites of the subfamily Parasitinae (Mesostigmata: Parasitidae) in the British Isles. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) Zoology 38, 237-378.

 Karg, W. 1971. Acari (Acarina), Milben Unterordnung Anactinochaeta (Parasitiformes) Die freilebenden Gamasina (Gamasides), Raubmilben. Die Tierwelt Deutschlands 59, 1-475.

 Koch, C. L. 1835-1844. Deutschlands Crustaceen, Myriapoden und Arachniden. Ein Beitrag zur Deutschen Fauna. (Herrich-Schäffer, Regensberg).

 Li, C., Yang, X. Z. and Chen, H. J. 1999. A new species of the genus Gamasodes from China (Acari: Parasitidae). Acta Zootaxonomica Sinica 24, 156-158.

 Ma, L. M. 1992. Descriptions of a new species and an unknown male of Gamasodes from north Qing-Zang Plateau (Acari: Mesostigmata, Parasitidae). Acta Entomologica Sinica 35, 113-116.

 Micherdzinski, W. 1969. Die Familie Parasitidae Oudemans 1901 (Acarina, Mesostigmata) (Zaklad Zoologii Systematycznej, Polskiej Akademii Nauk, Cracow). pp 690.

 Oudemans, A. C. 1903 Acarologische aanteekeningen VI. Entomologische Berichten 1 (12), 83-88.

 Oudemans, A. C. 1936. Kritisch Historisch Overzicht der Acarologie, Deerde Gedeelte, 1805-1850. Band A (E J Brill, Leiden) pp 1-430.

 Oudemans, A. C. 1939a. Neue funde auf dem gebiete der systematik und der nomenclatur der Acari III Zoologischer Anzeiger 126, 20-24.

 Oudemans, A. C. 1939b. Neue funde auf dem gebiete der systematik und der nomenklatur der Acari IV. Zoologischer Anzeiger 126, 195-201.

 Polak, M. (1996) Ectoparasitic effects on host survival and reproduction: The Drosophila-Macrocheles association. Ecology 77, 1379-1389.

 Polak, M., Starmer, W. T. and Wolf, L. L. 2004. Sexual selection for size and symmetry in a diversifying secondary sexual character in Drosophila bipectinata Duda (Diptera: Drosophilidae). Evolution 58, 597-607.

 Samšiňák, K. 1979. Mites of Saudi Arabia Acari from Musca domestica. Fauna Saudi Arabia 1, 69-74.

 Schweizer, J. 1961. Die Landmilben der Schweiz (Mittelland, Jura und Alpen) Parasitiformes Reuter. Denkschriften der Schweizerischen Naturforschenden Gesellschaft 84, 1-207.

 Strenzke, K. 1951. Die adulten stadien von Gamasodes bispinosus und die systematische stellung der gattung Gamasodes (Acarina: Parasitiformes). Zoologischer Anzeiger 147, 13-24.

 Tian, Q. Y. and Gu, Y. M. 1991. The first record of Gamasodes in China with description of a new species (Acari: Parasitidae). Acta Zootaxonomica Sinica 16, 432-435.

 Trägårdh, I. 1910. Acariden aus dem Sarekgebirge. Naturwissenschaftlichen Naturwissenschaftliche Untersuchungen des Sarakgebirges in Schwedisch-Lappland geleitet von Dr Axel Hamberg 4, Lief 4 (Stockholm, 1910) pp 375-586.

 Tseng, Y. H. 1995. A taxonomical study of free-living gamasine mite family Parasitidae Oudemans (Acari, Mesostigmata) from Taiwan. Journal of the Taiwan Museum 48, 11-81.