Translate

Tuesday 20 October 2015

Parasitellus sp. - Cyprus

Parasitellus (formerly Parasitus) is a genus of mites in the family Parasitidae which are obligatory parasites of bumblebees. These mites can be found clinging to the carapace, sometimes in large numbers. Mites in this genus hibernate in the deutonymphal stage.[6] In the tritonymph stage they can actively transfer from bumblebee to bumblebee from flowers, where they can survive up to 24 hours.[4] After they arrive in a bumblebee nest, they will moult into adults. Whilst it is not known what factors trigger the mite to molt, in laboratory conditions P. fucorum were found to moult after eating fresh pollen, although overall moulting success was low They are kleptoparasitic or neutral to beneficial, depending on life stage; females and deutonymphs feed on provisioned pollen, while other stages are predators of small arthropods. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Buff-tailed Bumblebee  adult, close-up  with infestation of mites
Parasitellus sp.
Buff-tailed Bumblebee  adult, close-up  with infestation of mites
Parasitellus sp.













See also

No comments:

Post a Comment