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Stylopized hornets (Vespa, Vespidae) as preferred hosts of the parasitic mite Charletonia southcotti (Erythraeidae, Acari)

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Abstract

Parasitic mites have thus far been recorded only rarely from vespine wasps. We found larvae of the erythraeid mite Charletonia southcotti feeding on hornets, mainly Vespa analis workers that had been collected with bait traps. The mite seemed to prefer hornets stylopized by Xenos spp. as hosts to non-stylopized individuals, since in collections made over 7 years, 22 of 267 V. analis stylopized workers had larval mites, whereas there were none on 297 non-stylopized workers. The number of mites on a single host varied from one to five. The larval mites nearly always occurred in gapped spaces between tergites occupied by male Xenos puparia, and the mites’ engorged bodies showed that they did in fact feed on the hosts. We investigated the possibility that stylopization provided the mite with a suitable feeding place by opening gaps between the hornets’ tergites.

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Fig. 1

Availability of data and material

All specimens of hornets and mites used in the study are deposited at Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, Tsukuba, Japan.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute under the scheme "Development of forest management conscious of biodiversity conservation", and by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (no. 20380097 and 21K05693) from The Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. We also thank Dr. Y. Takahata for his help in collecting the hornets.

Funding

This study was supported by the Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute under the scheme “Development of forest management conscious of biodiversity conservation”, and by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (no. 20380097 and 21K05693) from The Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, Matsunosato 1, Tsukuba, 305-8687, Japan

    H. Kosaka, K. Okabe & S. Makino

  2. Kyushu Research Center, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, Kurokami, Kumamoto, 860-0862, Japan

    K. Sayama

Authors
  1. H. Kosaka
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  2. K. Sayama
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  3. K. Okabe
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  4. S. Makino
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Contributions

HK and SM contributed to study conceptualization and design. Material collection was made by HK and KS. Data analysis was performed by SM and HK. Identification of mites was made by KO. The first draft of the manuscript was written by SM. All authors commented and edited the previous versions of the manuscript. All authors approved the final version of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to S. Makino.

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Kosaka, H., Sayama, K., Okabe, K. et al. Stylopized hornets (Vespa, Vespidae) as preferred hosts of the parasitic mite Charletonia southcotti (Erythraeidae, Acari). Insect. Soc. 68, 371–374 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00040-021-00829-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00040-021-00829-1

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