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Morphological differences between sympatric populations of the Poecilochirus carabi complex (Acari: Mesostigmata: Parasitidae) associated with burying beetles (Silphidae: Nicrophorus)

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Abstract

Adults of two sympatric populations of the parasitid mite Poecilochirus carabi G. & R. Canestrini, one preferring Nicrophorus vespillo (Linnaeus) as carrier beetle species and the other N. vespilloides Herbst, could be separated by differences in the form of the structures associated with the male genital orifice and the size of the female endogynum. Adults and deuteronymphs of the two populations also differed in the size of idiosomal shields and dorsal setae. On the basis of these findings, plus data from a literature review and an examination of type-material, the preference type choosing N. vespilloides was identified as P. carabi (sensu stricto) and that preferring N. vespillo as P. necrophori Vitzthum, a species previously synonymised with P. carabi.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Entomology, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD, UK

    Anne S. Baker

  2. ETH Zürich, Experimentelle ökologie, ETH Zentrum NW, 8092, Zürich, Switzerland

    Horst H. Schwarz

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  1. Anne S. Baker
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  2. Horst H. Schwarz
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Baker, A.S., Schwarz, H.H. Morphological differences between sympatric populations of the Poecilochirus carabi complex (Acari: Mesostigmata: Parasitidae) associated with burying beetles (Silphidae: Nicrophorus). Syst Parasitol 37, 179–185 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005822702267

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