FNZ 56 - Tyrophagus (Acari: Acaridae) - Introduction
Fan, Q-H; Zhang, Z-Q 2007. Tyrophagus (Acari: Astigmata: Acaridae). Fauna of New Zealand 56, 291 pages.
(
ISSN 0111-5383 (print),
;
no.
56.
ISBN 978-0-478-09386-5 (print),
).
Published 04 Jun 2007
ZooBank: http://zoobank.org/References/645F28C5-DAA9-46FF-B346-5B459C8B7BB9
Introduction
The genus Tyrophagus Oudemans belongs to the family Acaridae of the suborder Astigmata. Most species are fungivorous and occur commonly in stored food products and decaying organic matter. Some species are also facultatively phytophagous. Many other species are associates of various insects, or inhabitants of vertebrate nests.
The Acaridae is a large family of worldwide distribution. About 400 species of acarid mites belonging to some 90 genera are known in the world and many others are yet to be discovered, especially in tropical areas.
Tyrophagus is one of the most important members of the Acaridae. They are the most abundant and economically important mites inhabiting stored food and products (Hughes 1976). Some Tyrophagus species can cause economic damage to plants, including both ornamental flowers and vegetables grown in greenhouses (Zhang 2003). Tyrophagus neiswanderi was found feeding on foliage of greenhouse cucumbers (Johnston & Bruce 1965, Nakao & Kurosa 1988). Tyrophagus perniciosus and T. similis were observed attacking spinach, melon, cucumber, pumpkin, and maize in the field (Nakao & Kurosa 1988).
Since the erection of the genus Tyrophagus by Oudemans (1924a), nearly 60 names have been proposed under the genus Tyrophagus. Most of them are treated as synonyms (Griffiths 1979). The number of valid names at present is 35. Zakhvatkin (1941) first revised the genus. Two other major subsequent revisions were carried out by Robertson (1959) and Samšiòák (1962). It was Griffiths (1979) who first introduced the concept of trying to understand the relationship between the phenotype and the genotype and undertook hybridisation experiments to determine the limits of morphospecies. Other important taxonomic contributions were made by Johnson & Bruce (1965), Fain (1976, 1977, 1985), and Lynch (1989). The genus is in serious need of an updated revision to allow clarification of species limits and accurate identification.
In New Zealand, tyrophagid mites have long been considered serious household pests. Cockayne & Waters (1916) first recorded Tyrophagus longior (as Tyroglyphus longior) attacking fodder. Robertson (1946) historically reviewed the studies on Tyrophagus longior and provided distribution and host information. In 1959 she recorded 4 species from New Zealand: Tyrophagus communis (as T. putrescentiae), T. longior, T. similis (as T. oudemansi), and T. vanheurni (as T. palmarum), in her comprehensive revision of the genus. Up to now 5 species (including T. neiswanderi) were known to occur in New Zealand.
Economic importance and context for this volume
Unidentified mites in this genus can pose problems for access to markets for horticultural crops and stored foodstuffs when intercepted by an importing country; however, there is no comprehensive account of this genus for New Zealand and Australia. This monograph revises the taxonomy of Tyrophagus in New Zealand, Australia, and other Oceanian countries including Cook Is., Fiji, Niue Is., Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Is., Tokelau Is., Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.
We provide user-friendly identification keys to species using morphological characters of the adults, both males and females, with additional worldwide distribution data for each species. The key and distribution information can be used by MAF to facilitate rapid quarantine decisions by trading partners.
Life cycle
The life cycle consists of the egg, larva, protonymph, deutonymph, tritonymph, and adult stages. The deutonymph, usually known as the hypopus, is rarely present, being dependent on environmental and biotic conditions, and has been recorded for one species only. Development from the egg to adult normally takes 1–3 weeks, depending on temperature. Many acarid mites are very highly fecund, for example, Tyrophagus females can produce between 100 and 700 eggs.