TY - JOUR T1 - Study of the acarofauna of native bumblebee species (Bombus) from Argentina JF - Apidologie Y1 - 2011 DO - DOI: 10.1051/apido/2010060 A1 - Matias Maggi A1 - Mariano Lucia A1 - Alberto H Abrahamovich SP - 280 EP - 292 KW - bumblebees Argentina associated mites AB -

A total of 382 bumblebee specimens were examined: Bombus atratus (n = 310), Bombus morio (n = 42), Bombus bellicosus (n = 16), Bombus opifex (n = 8), and Bombus tucumanus (n = 6). Prevalence, abundance, and intensity of mite infestation for each Bombus species and for each caste were recorded. The different mite species infesting bumblebee specimens were: Kuzinia laevis (Dujardin), Kuzinia americana (Delfinado and Baker), Scutacarus acarorum (Goeze), Pneumolaelaps longanalis (Hunter and Husband), Pneumolaelaps longipilus (Hunter), Tyrophagus putrescentiae (Schrank), and Parasitellus fucorum (De Geer). Numbers of mites varied enormously and ranged from 1 individual to over 200 per bumblebee. Kuzinia mites were represented by the phoretic forms (hypopi). Only nymphs of P. fucorum were recorded. Only female mites were recorded for the other mite species. T. putrescientiae, P. longipilus, S. acarorum, and P. fucorum were less abundant, while K. laevis, K. americana, and P. longanalis were the most abundant. These records of T. putrescientiae, P. fucorum, K. laevis, K. americana, P. longipilus, and S. acarorum are the first for Argentine bumblebees.

VL - 42 UR - http://www.springerlink.com/content/a32116w1g7j1342x/ ER -