Allergenic acarofauna of synanthropic outdoor environments in a densely populated urban area in Katowice, Upper Silesia, Poland

Abstract

Occurrence of allergenic mites (pyroglyphid house-dust mites, acarid and glycyphagid storage mites and others) in synanthropic outdoor sites in a densely populated urban area was investigated. Sampled litter soiled with communal wastes had 80.5% of the total population composed of astigmatid mites. These mites (11 species) belonged to families Acaridae and Winterschmidtiidae. Among the astigmatid mites two acarid mites were dominant: Tyrophagus silvester and T. longior (28.7% and 25.1% of all mites, respectively), with the latter found most frequently (44.2% of all samples). The age structures of the two species vs. relative humidity were investigated. The correlations between the age structures of T. silvester, T. longior, T. molitor and T. similis were statistically analyzed. The most important allergenic mites in Pyroglyphidae (house dust mites) or Glycyphagidae (stored food mites) were not found. However, allergenic mites in Tarsonemidae, important for house dust, and Acaridae, reported from food stores, were numerous in the samples, which allows us to conclude that litter is an important source of invasive mites into dwellings or food stores.