Spider Mites Web: A comprehensive database for the Tetranychidae

Abstract

For the past 50 years, the International Congress of Acarology has been the foremost forum for worldwide com- munication on the knowledge of mites and ticks. This group of very small arthropods exhibits a bewildering diversity of species that live in many different habitats, in association with the land, freshwater and marine organisms with which they interact. Many mites and ticks have economic conse- quences as they are pests of agricultural, veterinary and medical importance, and several species have become model organisms for studies in modern biology. While acarologists pur sang focus on evolution and phylogeny of the Acari, they may learn from insights emerging from fun- damental and applied biological experiments in which selected species of Acari are the focal object of study. Experimental and applied biologists, on the other hand, may learn from insight in how their pet organism is positioned amidst the diversity of Acari. In this sense the International Congress of Acarology may stimulate biologists to look beyond the borders of their disciplines