Abstract
Differences in the phoresy of the mites Macrocheles muscaedomesticae (Scopoli, 1972) (Macrochelidae) and Uroseius sp. (Polyaspidae) on the house fly, Musca domestica (Linnaeus, 1758) and the similarities in their phoretic dispersal and parasitism are discussed, altogether with the effects on predator-prey interactions. The prevalence and intensity of phoresy in the mite species were significantly related to the attachment site on the hosts. The phoresy of Uroseius sp. was correlated with temperature but not with rainfall and relative humidity. Selective pressure in the environment resulted in displacement and the emergence of local and regional populations. These results suggest that in each habitat the populations will use different resources and will show several relationships with other species, as well as a selection for morphological and behavioral types.
Highlights
Phoresy is a phenomenon in which an animal actively seeks and attaches to the surface of another animal and than enters quiescence in order to be transported to other habitats
The intensity of phoresy was defined as the number of phoretic mites per host fly in a sample, grouped according to attachment site and the sex of the host flies
Analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by the Duncan test (PROC GLM) was used to compare the prevalence, intensity and frequency of phoresy according to season; sex of the fly populations sampled; sex of the host flies infected with phoretic mites; attachment sites on host flies and phoretic mite species
Summary
Phoresy is a phenomenon in which an animal (the phoretic stage or phoront) actively seeks and attaches to the surface of another animal and than enters quiescence (no ontogenesis or feeding) in order to be transported to other habitats. The intensity of phoresy was defined as the number of phoretic mites per host fly in a sample (the number of individuals in an infrapopulation), grouped according to attachment site and the sex of the host flies.
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