Dear Acarologists,

Thanks to all who responded to my query on rapid development (see below). So far, the fastest are among the Tarsonemina in the Acariformes and the Dermanyssina in the Parasitiformes, and tied (Acarophenax mahunkai) or beat out the ones I had on hand by a few hours (Gamasellodes vermivorax).

Now, I have a second request - for the smallest and largest adult mites. My current records are 80 ?m for an unnamed eriophyid (p. 4 in Lindquist, Sabelis & Bruin) and 13, 000 ?m for Dinothrombium tinctorum (L.)  (Newell and Tevis 1960).

Courtesy of Carlos Flechtman:

Hambleton, E.J., 1938 - A ocorrencia do acaro tropical "Tarsonemus latus Banks" (Acar., Tarsonemidae) causador da rasgadura das folhas nos algodoais de S. Paulo.  Arquivos do Instituto Biologico, Sao Paulo, 9:201-209

Polyphagotarsonemus latus (Banks) - from egg to adult: 3 days at 27 degrees Celsius

Courtesy of Chyi-Chen Ho:

Macrocheles muscaedomesticae, male development period at 30+-2C = 66.48 h; female = 77.4 h

Ho, Chyi-Chen. 1985. Mass production of the predaceous mite, Macrocheles muscaedomesticae (Scopoli)(Acarina: Macrochelidae), and its potential use as a biological agent of house fly, Musca domestica L. (Diptera:Muscidae). Ph.D. dissertation, University of Florida, Gainesville. 186pp.

Cheers,

Dave Walter

Dr David Evans Walter
Department of Entomology
The University of Queensland
St Lucia, QLD 4072 Australia

phone: 07-3365-1564
fax: 07-3365-1922

RETURN   this   form   to   lebrun@ecol.ucl.ac.be

1998   ACAROLOGY   COURSE   AT   UCL   (BELGIUM)
COURSE   PRE-REGISTRATION   -    SEND BY E-MAIL, FAX OR REGULAR MAIL
REGISTER   EARLY   AS   SPACE   IS   LIMITED!

Name ___________________________

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11ieme COURS INTERNATIONAL D'ACAROLOGIE
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Organise sous l'egide de la SIALF (Societe Internationale des Acarologues de Langue Francaise) le prochain cours avance d'acarologie aura lieu :

du jeudi 3 au jeudi 10 septembre 1998, en Belgique.

Il se tiendra au Centre de Colloques et de Seminaires de l'Universite catholique de Louvain a Matagne-la-Petite. Ce centre qui offre des infrastructures d'hebergement de tres haut niveau est idealement situe dans un cadre exceptionnel, une des plus belles regions naturelles du nord-ouest de l'Europe.

L'organisation du cours a ete confiee a un groupe d'acarologues belges qui, sous la coordination du Professeur Ph. LEBRUN (Universite catholique de Louvain), est constitue des Dr. H.-M. ANDRE, D. de SAINT GEORGES-GRIDELET, G. VAN IMPE et G. WAUTHY, en collaboration avec un Comite scientifique (les Dr. P. ELSEN, J.-Cl. GREGOIRE, Th. HANCE, Ph. NIHOUL et J. NOTI).
 La presidence d'honneur sera assuree par le Professeur A. FAIN.

Le theme du cours, outre une introduction generale a l'acarologie, est :

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CC: AGCAN.INTERNET("ForSciEd@ncr4.ncr.forestry.ca","fe...

From Dr. Scott Miller, ICIPE, Nairobi, Kenya.
=======================================================================
INTERNATIONAL CENTRE OF INSECT PHYSIOLOGY AND ECOLOGY

VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT

POST-DOCTORAL FELLOW
ACAROLOGY

The International Centre for Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE) is an intergovernmental organisation funded by governmental aid agencies, UN organisations and private foundations to carry out research and training into the environmentally sound and sustainable management of arthropods for improving health and agricultural productivity in the tropics. ICIPE has over 350 staff to support its capacity building and research programmes in the management of medical, animal and plant disease vectors, plant pests, and in the conservation and utilisation of arthropod biodiversity. Although many of ICIPE's present activities are Africa-centered, the organisation intends to broaden its pan-tropical base by greater collaboration in Asia and Latin America.

ICIPE has an immediate opening for a Post-Doctoral Fellow to be based in Nairobi and work under a new project concerning environmentally friendly management methods for red spider mites in small-holder tomato production systems in eastern and southern Africa.  The incumbent will be responsible for: (1) leading in the characterization of phytophagous spider mite pest problems in tomato production systems; (2) devising and carrying out strategies for the control of spider mites in tomatoes with an emphasis on host plant resistance and augmentation biological control; and (3)
coordinating with national agricultural research institutions in eastern and southern Africa concerning project activities. The person will also assist in supervising PhD students working on the project.

Required qualifications include:  (1) a PhD in entomology or related science completed within the last 5 years; (2) experience in the following: identifying and mass rearing phytophagous and predaceous mites, identifying mechanisms of host plat resistance, and augmentation biological control of spider mites. (3) excellent verbal and written English skills, demonstrated through a history of scientific presentations and peer-reviewed publications; (4) excellent skills with analytical,
spreadsheet and wordprocessing softwares; and (5) good interpersonal skills and ability to work effectively with a team.

 ICIPE offers a collegial and gender-sensitive working environment. The contract is for three years. ICIPE offers salaries and benefits competitive with international centres, including relocation, housing, transportation and home leave allowances, and provision of medical insurance and pension plan.

ICIPE will begin reviewing applications in mid-November; screening will continue until the position is filled. Applicants are invited to send as soon a possible a detailed curriculum vitae, including salary details, and the names and addresses of three referees (including telephone, e-mail and fax numbers). All correspondence should be addressed to: PDF Acarology, Human Resources Dept., International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology, P.O. Box 30772, Nairobi, Kenya. E-mail: icipe@cgnet.com; fax: (254-2) 861 690.

ICIPE is an equal opportunity employer.  Women are especially encouraged to apply.

POST-DOCTORAL FELLOWSHIP
Department of Biological Sciences
Texas Tech University

Fellowship available for an arthropod biologist (i.e. insects or mites) working in molecular biology.  The position is for two years with the possibility of extension.

A suitable applicant must have proven (published) experience with general molecular techniques as applied to systematics and/or genetic engineering of arthropods (e.g. Southern blot, cloning, sequencing, PCR etc.).

The position requires a person who can be an effective part of a research team made up of researchers from several disciplines and two research groups (Department of Biological Sciences, Texas Tech and Department of Pathology, UT Medical Branch, Galveston).  This person will be a full partner in two different projects: the biological control of the imported fire ant, and an established working team dealing with the dynamics of the vectoring of a Bunyaviridae virus, by arthropods.

The candidate must be willing to work independently, when necessary, and cooperate with the team when required.  He/she must be able to work well with graduate students and be willing to help train them in molecular techniques.  Frequent travel to the UT Medical Branch and some field work will be shared by the members of the Texas Tech team, so the candidate must be willing to participate in this as well.

A reasonable effort will be made to offer time, space and support for projects designed independently by the post doctoral fellow of his/her own interests, but the goals of the grant must be given the highest priority.

Applications are currently being accepted and the position will be filled as soon as an appropriate candidate is targeted.  I hope to have the successful candidate join the research team by late December or early January.

If interested please contact me directly.

Dr. M. A. Houck
Associate Professor of Biological Sciences
Curator of Invertebrates, Natural Sciences Research Lab.

Helo I am from the U.S i was wandering if you had any information about  the expeiment on spiders and dugs. please if you have any information  about this subject please email me at ahimas@aol.com

______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

Hello my name is mahmoud i live in Boston I was wandering if you have any information on the experiment with spiders and drugs. I also wanted to know if you know paul Hillard because i have heard of him and he knows alot about this subject. please if you have any information please email me

Mahmoud AL-SABBAGH wrote:
>
> sorry i must have written the wrong thing i was looking for spiders and drugs.
>
>
> ______________________________________________________
> Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
Hoi,

Have a look at he following URL:
http://www.info.isbiel.ch/~tilt/nr100/page15.html
 

Bye,

Gie
 

CC: AGCAN.INTERNET("acarology@nhm.ac.uk")

I've been unable to contact Dr. O'Donnell directly, so apologies to the list.

At 4:13 PM 11/27/97, Maurice O'Donnell wrote:
>A colleague is trying to identify a small number of mites (Astigmatids,Prostigmatids) collected
>from scrapings from combs of beehives in Niue.

>We would be interested in liaising with anyone familiar  (or interested) with this sort of material
>who could help us with identification..
>Thank you.
>
I've been working with bee-associated Astigmata for some time and have published a number of papers on the subject.  I'd be happy to look at your material.  My postdoctoral associate, Ron Ochoa, said that he had responded similarly yesterday (a holiday here).  Can I presume you are speaking of honey bees on Niue?  If so, you could expect to find Carpoglyphus lactis and Forcellinia galleriella as probably the most common associates.  I'm currently working on a revision of the acarid genus Lasioacarus; the two named species are associated with Apis mellifera and A. dorsata, repectively, and we have new species from A. cerana and A. nigrocincta.  We would very much like to find the adult stages of these species - what we have are only the phoretic deutonymphs so far.
        If you have mites associated with bees other than Apis, these would also be interesting to me.
        Cheers - Barry

Barry M. OConnor                phone: (313) 763-4354
Museum of Zoology               FAX: (313) 763-4080
University of Michigan          e-mail: bmoc@umich.edu
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1079  USA

An inquiry was passed to me from a local insectary.  Someone brought in to them a sample of "a fairly large [about 2mm long] 'Phytoseiid' mite that is tan in color and coming out of the soil in droves from this guy's potted plants".  I don't have much first-hand experience with mites and no handy texts.  Anybody out there know either

  a) that this is obviously such-and-such
  b) that this is far too little information on which to base a diagnosis and such an inquiry would be far better handled by contacting the world specialist on mites in the Pacific Northwest: so-and-so

Thanks,
 

Conrad Berube
Pest Management Officer
B.C. Environment, Lands and Parks
2080-A Labieux Road
Nanaimo, BC V9T 6J6
(250)751-3100; FAX:(250) 751-3103
email: caberube@nanaimo.env.gov.bc.ca

Hi spam-oppressed fellow acarologists,

  I'm looking for a recent biography or bibliographic review of Antonio Berlese and his contributions to acarology.  My most recent source is ancient (Osborn 1952), but I'm sure that I remember something more recent. I surely remember a very long oral presentation by John Kethley at an Acarology Society of America meeting, but probably that wasn't published? Any ideas about the first use of 'acarology' and 'acarologist' would be nice too.  The OED gives them as late 19th century.

Cheers,

Dave Walter

Dr David Evans Walter
Department of Entomology
The University of Queensland
St Lucia, QLD 4072 Australia

phone: 07-3365-1564
fax: 07-3365-1922

Dear Fellow Acarologists,

Does anybody know where small quantities of ornamental plant pollens can be purchased?

Thanks,
Scott Ludwig

****************************************************************************
Scott Ludwig
Department of Entomology
Georgia Experiment Station
University of Georgia
Griffin, GA 30223
sludwig@bugs.ent.uga.edu

This is a sad day for all acarologists, mainly for oribatologists.Dr Carlos Perez-Inigo passed away last saturday (11-22-97) in Madrid after a period of illness.

REST IN PEACE

Forwarded message:
From:     Self <PLANT2/RIETEAU>
To: ACAROLOGY@NHM.AC.ZA
Subject: E-MAIL ADDRESS OR ADDRESS
Date: Wed, 19 Nov 1997 13:37:29 GMT+2

Dear colleagues,
    Would someone be so kind as to give me the E-mail address or postal address of the Curator of the U. S. National Museum. Washington D.C.
    Thanking you in anticipation
    Regards
    Eddie A. Ueckermann

A colleague is trying to identify a small number of mites (Astigmatids, Prostigmatids) collected from scrapings from combs of beehives in Niue.  Niue is a small South Pacific island between Tonga and the Cook Islands. The mites are not considered to be parasites of bees and are most likely pollen and/or detritus feeders. We would be interested in liaising with anyone familiar  (or interested) with this sort of material who could help us with identification..

Thank you.

Maurice O'Donnell
Entomologist
Plant Protection Centre
Ministry of Agriculture
Lincoln, New Zealand
odonnellm@lincoln.mqm.govt.nz

I've been unable to contact Dr. O'Donnell directly, so apologies to the list.

At 4:13 PM 11/27/97, Maurice O'Donnell wrote:
>A colleague is trying to identify a small number of mites (Astigmatids,Prostigmatids) collected
>from scrapings from combs of beehives in Niue.

>We would be interested in liaising with anyone familiar  (or interested) with this sort of material
>who could help us with identification..
>Thank you.
>
I've been working with bee-associated Astigmata for some time and have published a number of papers on the subject.  I'd be happy to look at your material.  My postdoctoral associate, Ron Ochoa, said that he had responded similarly yesterday (a holiday here).  Can I presume you are speaking of
honey bees on Niue?  If so, you could expect to find Carpoglyphus lactis and Forcellinia galleriella as probably the most common associates.  I'm currently working on a revision of the acarid genus Lasioacarus; the two named species are associated with Apis mellifera and A. dorsata, repectively, and we have new species from A. cerana and A. nigrocincta.  We would very much like to find the adult stages of these species - what we have are only the phoretic deutonymphs so far.
        If you have mites associated with bees other than Apis, these would also be interesting to me.
        Cheers - Barry

Barry M. OConnor                phone: (313) 763-4354
Museum of Zoology               FAX: (313) 763-4080
University of Michigan          e-mail: bmoc@umich.edu
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1079  USA