Types of parasitism of acarines and insects on terrestrial vertebrates

Abstract

According to the recent taxonomic revisions, over 40000 species of insects and acarines are parasites or micropredatory blood-suckers of mammals and birds. The largest fraction of them are micropredators and temporary or permanent ectoparasites, the minority being endoparasitic. Some arthropods (blood-sucking dipterans) use the host primarily as a food resource, whereas for others (many astigmatic mites) the host constitutes the entire environment. A number of life forms, or types of parasitism, have arisen in the insects and acarines in the course of their adaptive evolution to parasitism on terrestrial vertebrates. The term “type of parasitism” designates a set of convergently arising morpho-physiological and ecological adaptations (adaptive complexes), demonstrated by different arthropod taxa. A classification of the types of parasitism in arthropods is proposed based on their temporal, spatial, and trophic associations with vertebrates. The following seven types of parasitism are distinguished: micropredatory blood-suckers, nest ectoparasites (nidicoles), temporary ectoparasites with prolonged feeding, permanent ectoparasites, intracutaneous endoparasites, cavity endoparasites, and tissue endoparasites.