Taxonomic position

Cohort Gamasina

Subcohort Parasitiae

Family: Parasitidae Oudemans

Subfamily: Parasitinae

Gamasodes Oudemans

 

Diagnostic characters: Female schizodorsal or divided dorsal shield with setae of dorsal hexagon (j5, z5, j6) dissimilar in form; opisthogastric shield with fewer than 18 pairs of setae, genital region Λ-shaped, with a single anterior point; setae al1, al2 on palp genu in deutonymphs and adults spatulate; corniculi short, not extending to anterior margin of palp femur; tritosternum of male absent or rudimentary; deutonymph (and sometimes female) with spurs on leg II femur (on tubercles), genu, and usually tibia and tarsus.

 

Similar taxa:

Key to some Parasitine Genera (Adult females)(modified from Hyatt 1980)

1.  Lateral setae of palp genu (al1-2) entire, either setiform or spatulate............ 2

 -  Lateral setae of palp genu (al1-2) bifid............ Eugamasus

2.  Posterior ventral region (opisthogaster) with 30 or fewer pairs of setae; associated with a variety of insects, but usually not bumblebees (Bombus)............ 3

 -  Opisthogaster with extensive hypertrichy (>40 pairs of setae); associated with bumblebees (Bombus) or their nests............ Parasitellus

3.  Corniculi of normal length, not reaching the anterior margin of the palp femur; anterior margin of anterior dorsal shield convex ............ 4

 -  Corniculi elongate, extending beyond palp femur-genu articulation; margin of anterior dorsal shield concave............ Cornigamasus

 

4.  Genital shield (or genital region of hologastric shield) subtriangular, acuminate............ 5

 -  Genital region of hologastric shield distally tricuspid............. Porrhostaspis

5.  Lateral seta of palp femur (al) entire, usually spatulate............ 8

 -  Lateral seta of palp femur bifid, serrate, or serrate-spatulate............. 6

6.  Setae of dorsal hexagon dissimilar, seta z5 longer and usually thicker than j5 and j6............ 7

 -  Setae of dorsal hexagon similar in size and ornamentation............ Vulgarogamasus

 

7.  Sternal shield entire; seta z5 usually thicker than j5 and j6 and distally pilose associated with dung (and dung beetles), compost, etc.............. Parasitus

 -  Sternal shield split medially; seta z5 usually longer than j5 and j6 but similar in form; associated with bark beetles............. Schizosthetus

 

8.  Dorsal shield completely divided........... 9

 -  Schizodorsal shield............. Gamasodes bispinosus group

 

9.  Seta z5 of dorsal hexagon thickened and distally pilose; associated with various insects............. 10

 -  Seta z5 simple; associated with carrion beetles (Silphidae)............. Poecilochirus

 

10.  Articulation between sternal and metasternal shields oblique; ambulacra of legs II-IV simple, rounded............. Gamasodes

 -  Articulation (or suture) between sternal and metasternal shields transverse; ambulacra of legs II-IV long and acuminate............ Trachygamasus

 

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.

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

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 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.

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 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.

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