The diversity and host specificity of mites associated with ants: the roles of ecological and life history traits of ant hosts

Abstract

Ant nests are stable resource patches that can be utilized by myrmecophiles (organisms living in association with ants). Mites are the most abundant guests in ant nests and are frequently observed in phoretic relationships with ants. Little is known about the effects of ecological and life history characteristics of ant hosts on mite species richness. Previous work focused on mite descriptions and provided little ecological information. Phoretic mites were surveyed for 43 ant species in 273 colonies in Ohio. Mite collections totaled 151 species including representatives of the cohorts Astigmatina and Heterostigmatina, and the suborder Mesostigmata. Most mite species had specific host species and attachment sites on the ants. Statistical analyses showed mite species richness to be highest in colonies of ant species that are (1) populous, (2) large bodied, (3) in the genus Lasius, and (4) established through social parasitism. The species richness was higher for ant species with social parasitism or the genus Lasius, but the relative importance of other host ecological and life history variables differed among mite taxa. Prevalence was greater for female ant alates than workers or males and was positively influenced by (1) host size, (2) social parasitism, and (3) the genus Lasius. These results suggest that greater ant diversity also supports a greater diversity of associated mites, but that mite diversity is disproportionately higher in ant species with greater resource availability within nests or those that may facilitate the exchange of mite assemblages among ant nests.