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Long life cycle and high adult survival in an arctic population of the mite Ameronothrus lineatus (Acari, Oribatida) from Svalbard

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Abstract

Field experiments investigated survival and development in an arctic population of the oribatid mite Ameronothrus lineatus living on cyanobacterial mats. Mites were sorted to instar and kept in microcosms for 1 year (1997–1998). Juvenile winter survival was high (56–79%), but only about 50% of the adults survived the winter. Summer survival was high in all instars (60–80%). This gave a high survival to adulthood (13.3%). A synchronized moult was observed in July, but juvenile development during the rest of the exceptionally warm summer of 1998 varied both between and within stages, with immatures moulting not at all or up to two times. In a second set of cohorts, experiencing a shorter summer, most juveniles moulted once. Thus, A. lineatus has a flexible life cycle with the juvenile stages normally lasting 1 year, giving a larva-to-larva developmental time of 5 years, but with an increased developmental rate in warm summers. Development also seemed to depend on gender, with males developing faster than females. Adult longevity was studied in the laboratory, and most of the adults lived for 2–3 years.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Inger Alsos for identifying the Carex-species in the Adventdalen study site and Sigmund Spjelkavik for lending us Tinytalks. Part of the laboratory work was carried out at the University Centre on Svalbard (UNIS). The Norwegian Meteorological Institute kindly provided the meteorological data. Steve Coulson, Ian Hodkinson, Rolf Anker Ims, Torstein Solhøy and two anonymous referees gave valuable comments on the manuscript. The study was financed by the Norwegian Research Council and supported by grants from the Norwegian National Committee on Polar Research.

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  1. Department of Biology, Division of Zoology, University of Oslo, Blindern, P.O. Box 1050, 0316, Oslo, Norway

    Guldborg Søvik & Hans Petter Leinaas

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  1. Guldborg Søvik
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Correspondence to Hans Petter Leinaas.

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Søvik, G., Leinaas, H.P. Long life cycle and high adult survival in an arctic population of the mite Ameronothrus lineatus (Acari, Oribatida) from Svalbard. Polar Biol 26, 500–508 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-003-0510-3

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