Observations on the relationship between eylais and hydrachna (Acari: Hydracarina) and sigava spp. (insecta: Hemiptera: Corixidae)

Abstract

Species of Eylais and Hydrachna parasitising Sigara dorsalis and S. falleni in a reservoir in Leicestershire, England, were studied. S. dorsalis had a greater infestation of mites than S. falleni, but the latter, in one season, had more mites on the flightless than the normal flight-muscle morph. Overwintering mite nymphochrysalids temporarily inhibited egg development in the host. This probably extended the time during which the host’s spring migration could occur, and would increase the chance of dispersal for those species of mites and corixids which breed in temporary ponds and overwinter in permanent water bodies. Eylais nymphochrysalids had an aggregated distribution on S. falleni. © 1975 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.