Acarine species associated with subterranean termites (Blattodea, Termitidae)

Abstract

Ten species of mites were found associated with three species of termites, viz, Odontotermes obesus Rambur, 1842, O. feae Wasmann, 1896 and Nasutitermes gardneri Snyder, 1933. The collected mite species conformed to nine genera, four families and two orders. Among the ten species collected, nine of them were from the order Sarcoptiformes and cohort Astigmatina, while only one belonged to the order Trombidiformes. Seven species collected conformed to the family Acaridae. All mite species exhibited a phoretic relationship with their respective host insects. One adult mite, Premicrodispus paramaevi Hosseininaveh and Hajiqanbar, 2015 and nine deutonymphs were collected and described.