OBJECTIVE Sancassania berlesei (S. berlesei) is the leading threatening mite in breeding industry of Eupolyphaga sinensis and public health. METHODS Living specimens of S. berlesei were obtained from the surface of Eupolyphaga sinensis and purified with double-distilled water. The egg, larva, nymph, hypopus, adult male and female of S. berlesei were screened and picked out under microscope. ...

Biological indicators based on abundances of soil organisms are powerful tools for inferring functional and diversity changes in soils affected by agricultural perturbations. Field plots, combining organic and conventional practices with no tillage, conservation tillage and standard tillage maintained different nematode assemblages and soil food webs. Soil food web indices based on nematode ass...

Arthropods at different stages of development collected from human remains in an advanced stage of decomposition (following autopsy) and from the soil at the scene are reported. The corpse was found in a mixed deciduous forest of Biscay (northern Spain). Soil fauna was extracted by sieving the soil where the corpse lay and placing the remains in Berlese-Tullgren funnels. Necrophagous fauna on t...

1. Valdivieso R, Iraola V, Estupiñán M, Fernández-Caldas E. Sensitization and exposure to house dust and storage mites in high-altitude areas of Ecuador. Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol. 2006;97:532–8. 2. Valdivieso R, Estupiñán M, Acosta ME. Asthma and its relation with Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus and Dermatophagoides farinae in Andean altitudes (Quito, Ecuador). J Invest Allergol Clin Immunol. ...

OBJECTIVE Mites are microscopic organisms that lower the quality of life of people who are sensitive to them by causing conditions such as atopic dermatitis, allergic rhinitis, and asthma. These organisms are found in every habitat where humans live. This study was conducted to determine the presence of storage mites in dry food items. METHODS Various food items were procured 10 times each in...

The adaptive canalization hypothesis predicts that traits with low phenotypic plasticity are more fitness relevant, because they have been canalized via strong past selection, than traits with high phenotypic plasticity. Based on differing male body size plasticities of the predatory mites Phytoseiulus persimilis (low plasticity) and Neoseiulus californicus (high plasticity), we accordingly hyp...