Only two parasite interactions are known for Drosophila to date: Allantonematid nematodes associated with mycophagous Drosophilids and the ectoparasitic mite Macrocheles subbadius with the Sonoran Desert endemic Drosophila nigrospiracula. Unlike the nematode-Drosophila association, breadth of mite parasitism on Drosophila species is unknown. As M. subbadius is a generalist, parasitism of additional Drosophilids is expected. We determined the extent and distribution of mite parasitism in nature Drosophilids collected in Mexico and southern California. Thirteen additional species of Drosophilids were infested. Interestingly, 10 belong to the repleta species group of the subgenus Drosophila, despite the fact that the majority of flies collected were of the subgenus Sophophora. In all cases but 2, the associated mites were M. subbadius. Drosophila hexastigma was found to have not only M. subbadius, but another Mesostigmatid mite, Paragarmania bakeri, as well. One D. hydei was also found to have a mite from genus Lasioseius attached. In both choice and no-choice experiments, mites were more attracted to repleta group species than to Sophophoran. The extent of mite parasitism clearly is much broader than previously reported and suggests a host bias mediated either by mite preference and/or some mechanism of resistance in particular Drosophilid lineages.

迄今为止，果蝇只知道两种寄生虫的相互作用：与食虫性果蝇相关的Allantonematid线虫和与Sonoran沙漠特有果蝇Drosophila nigrospiracula寄生的螨螨Macrocheles subbadius。与线虫-果蝇的关联不同，对果蝇种类的螨寄生的广度是未知的。作为M. subbadius是一名多面手，预计还会有其他果蝇寄生。我们确定了在墨西哥和加利福尼亚南部采集的自然果蝇中螨寄生的程度和分布。果蝇还有13种。有趣的是，尽管收集到的大多数苍蝇都属于Sophophora属，但仍有10个属于果蝇属的repleta种。除2以外的所有情况下，相关的螨都是M. subbadius。果蝇hexastigma被发现不仅有巴氏甲烷梭菌（M. subbadius），而且还有另一个中结螨，Paragarmania bakeri。还发现了一只D. hydei有Lasioseius属的螨虫。附上。在选择和无选择实验中，螨虫对补充物种的吸引都比对槐花香的吸引更大。螨寄生的程度显然比以前报道的要广得多，并表明宿主偏倚是由螨的偏爱和/或某些抗性机制（特别是果蝇谱系）介导的。