Book Description

Acarines are prominent pests of field crops, granaries, warehouse and animals (arthropods, birds) causing heavy financial losses. House dust acarines are notorious agents of allergic reactions in human beings and other mammals. Acarines because of their small size and cryptic habitat are difficult to detect and hence most of the time infestations are overlooked. Once established in a new area, certain biological characteristics like high fecundity, various modes of reproduction, short life cycles, a myriad of dispersal techniques and adaptability to diverse ecological conditions allow rapid escalation to pest status. On the other hand, acarines are among the major resources for biological control of various classes of pests including insects, nematodes and weeds. These widely distributed microscopic animal ranging from free living to parasitic forms and terrestrial to aquatic forms require specialized techniques for handling. The literature regarding their biodiversity, collection, rearing, biology etc. are scattered and most of the time unavailable to scientists interested to work on them. Hence, a comprehensive book on agricultural acarology is prepared which covers all aspects of acarine biodiversity, acarological techinques and their role as bio-control agent in an abridged form. The book is divided into three sections- Acarine biodiversity , Acarological techniques and Acarines as biocontrol agents . Acarine biodiversity contains six chapters, one each on plant, stored, soil, house dust, parasitic and water mites. In second section, details on techniques of collection and extraction, preparation and mounting, labelling and housing the collection, culturing, counting and bioassay are given in individual chapters. Information related to predatory potential of acarines against insects, nematodes and weeds is included in third section in three chapters. The book has been liberally furnished with illustrations for better understanding. An extensive list of references and glossary are also provided at the ende of the book. Contents Chapter 1: Introduction; Acarology-development as a science of plant protection, relationship with other arachnids, identification keys of its orders and suborders, Acarines-their types and habitats, acarological techniques, acarines as biocontrol agents; Chapter 2: Plant Mites; Crop wise status of mite pests and losses in India, morphological genera, peculiar damage symptoms of prominent species of Tetranychidae, Eriophyidae, Tenuipalpidae, Tarsonemeidae, Tuckrellidae, management strategies for phytophagous mites-cultural control, sterlization, host plant reiistance, predatory mites, insect, spiders as biocontrol agents, botanical pesticides, antimetabolites, fungal pathogens, viruses, bacteria and chemical control, list of pest mites on different host crops (cereals, pulses, oilseed, millets, fibres and forage, vegetables, horticulture, ornamental and other cash crops) bioecology of important phytophagous mites; list of predatory mites associated with mites; Chapter 3: Stored Product Mites; Distribution, morphological characters of Acaridae, Carpoglyphidae, Glycyphagidae, Pyroglyphagidae; commonly occurring genera, nature of damage, biology, mites as energy transformers, as source of allergens, polluters of human food, bioecology of important pest mites, management practices-preventive measures, fumigants, inert dust, botanicals, photoperiod, pheromones, HTST techniques, biocontrol agents, list of stored grain/product mites, predatory/parasitic mites associated with mite pest; Chapter 4: Soil Mites; Oribatid mites-morphology, biology, lifecycle, decomposition and mineralizatiojn, concept of acaricompost, bioindicators, oribatid families and genera, Mesostigmatid mites-morphology, life cycle, Prostigmatid mites-alicorhagia fragilis, Alycus roseus, trombidiid mites-life cycle, Allothrombium sp, Trombidium sp; Chapter 5: Housedust Mites; Distribution, morphology, biology, mating behaviour, mites as source of allergens, allergenic properties of house dust mites, mechanism of mite, allergenic reactions, diagnostic and immune assays, important house dust mites, contamination, control measures; Chapter 6: Parasitic Mites; Mites associated with mammals, biology, nature of damage, important mites associated with mammals, control measures, Bird mites-distribution, bioecology, infestation level in birds, Trombicula autumnalis, Ornithonyssus bursa, Hypodectes propus, Dermanyssus gallinae, Ornithonyssus sylviarum, Control measures, Honeybee Mites-Ectoparasitic mites: Acarapis woodi, Phoretic mites, scavengers, Predatory mites; Chapter 7: Water Mites; Distribution, Lifecycle, Families and Commonly occuring Genera; Chapter 8: Collection and Extraction of Acarines; Housedust Mites-dust sampling, heat escape method, mobility test method, collection method for mounting, mite detection in water, ultrasonic technique, mite detection through DIN-A4 paper, parasitic mites-from birds-direct examination, modified berlese method, from domestic animals-brushing and combing method, fumigation method, skin scraping, small wild mammals, from insects-lycopodium dusting, adult insect examination, dead insect examination, bottom board insertion in beehives, hive debris examination, hive brood examination, sampling with acaricides, floatation method, collection of bee sample for A wood, phytophagous mites-hand picking, sweeping, beating, aspirator, startified sampling, sampling from large area, vacuum sampling, photographic sampling method, leaf-washing apparatus, plant predatory mites-Anystidae, Bdellidae, Phytoseiidae, soil mites-litter sample, soil sample, hand sorting, sieving, portable funnels, berlese funnel method, Macfadyen extractor, floatation technique, modified tullgren funnel, open brass funnel apparatus, storage mites-collection of infested material, collection of grains, residues and dust, modified berlese method, collection of eggs, water mites, sampling details and storage; Chapter 9: Preparations and Mounting; Preparation for binocular studies-temporary mounting, killing and preserving, clearing, staining, permanent mounting, ringing, labeling, recovery of specimen, preparation for electron microscopic studies-SEM studies, TEM studies, preparations for anatomical studies, preparations for histological studies of damaged material due to mite infestation-collection of material, fixation, dehydration, paraffin infiltration, embedding, sectioning, deparaffination and staining; Chapter 10: Labeling and Housing the Collection; Housing the collection, packing and shipping specimen-specimen in vials, microscopic slides; Chapter 11: Culturing Techniques; Rearing cages and observation arenas-house dust mites, parasitic mites, phytophagous mites, plant predatory mites, soil mites, stored mites, maintenance of mites on natural hosts-house dust mites, parasitic mites, phytophagous mites, plant predatory mites, soil mites, stored mites, alternate diets for mite rearing-house dust mites, plant predatory mites, stored mites, quality control in mass rearing-morphological traits, physiological traits, behavioural traits, control of contamination in mite rearing, release and shipment; Chapter 12: Counting; House dust mites, parasitic mites-counting dish method, PTMIS method, plant mites-direct counting, imprint method, field counting, mite brushing machine, plant part washing, per square cm counting, per leaf counting, bud mite counting, eriophyid counting, counting by photographs, soil and stored mites-counting through counting dish, card disc method; Chapter 13: Bioassay; Topical application, spray method, petri dish method (Dry film technique), leaf dip method, slide dip method, single leaf disc technique, closed double leaf disc technique impregnated plastic strips bioassay, impregnated petri dish bioassy, impregnated paper bioassy, pipette technique, filter paper bioassay, oral feeding technique, dose response curve-Wragstedt-Behrens method, probit analysis; Chapter 14: Acarines for Insect Control; Acaridae, Acarophenaxidae, Anystidae, Arrenuridae, Ascidae, Bdellidae, Camerobiidae, Cheyletidae, Cunaxidae, Erythracidae, Eupalopsellidae, Hemisarcoptidae, Hydryphantidae, Laelapidae, Pionidae, Podapolipidae, Pterygosomatidae, Pyemotidae, Trombidiidae, Tydeidae; Chapter 15: Acarines for Nematode Control; Astigmata, Cryptosigmata, Mesostigmata, Prostigmata; Chapter 16: Acarines for Weed Control; Tetranychidae, Eriophyidae, Tarsonemidae, Galumnidae.