The infestation of odonate imagines by water mite larvae was studied in the south of Western Siberia. Data on the rate of infestation, parasite load and the distribution of larvae on the body of dragonflies is presented. Of 24 odonate species studied, parasites were found in 12 species, with Zygoptera and Sympetrum species being most affected. Very high parasite loads were observed on Coenagrion pulchellum and Sympetrum flaveolum, in which the infestation rates of mite larvae exceeded 75 %. Erythromma najas recorded the highest parasite loads (up to 299 larvae per host). In total, six species of parasitic mites were identified; their occurrence on different species of Odonata varied. Arrenurus papillator attacked only Sympetrum and Lestes, while five other species, among which A. tricuspidator and A. maculator predominated, were found on species of Coenagrionidae.
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1 December 2020
Parasitism of Odonata by Arrenurus water mites (Acariformes, Hydrachnidia, Arrenuridae) in Western Siberia
Vitaly A. Stolbov,
Fedor I. Semerikov,
Sergei S. Tupitsyn
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Odonatologica
Vol. 49 • No. 3-4
December 2020
Vol. 49 • No. 3-4
December 2020
Anisoptera
damselfly
dragonfly
infestation
Russia
Zygoptera