Acari research
Riccardoella sp., a slug mite. © Harry Taylor, Natural History Museum
Approximately 54,000 species of Acari (mites and ticks) have been named worldwide, with hundreds more described every year. They are highly successful and exist in almost every terrestrial and aquatic habitat.
Mites can have both positive and negative effects economically. Some parasitic species can cause serious losses in food production, while predatory mites have been successfully used to target pests in biological control programmes.
Our research is concentrated on:
- publishing an information resource for mites of agroecosystems
- creating a website for British mite and tick species
- providing a checklist for British Mesostigmata
- studying the co-evolution of mites and galapagos mockingbirds
- assessing mites as archaeological indicators of change
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Mites of agroecosystems
An identification guide is being prepared for mites associated with crop plants.
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British biodiversity
Explore this illustrated website currently being developed to help users identify members of the British Acari and locate information about them.
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Checklist for British Mesostigmata
A checklist for British mites of the order Mesostigmata is currently under development. Find out more here.
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Galapagos mockingbird ectoparasites
This project is looking at the co-evolution of the lice and mites found on Galapagos mockingbirds.
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Mites as archaeological indicators of change
This project is assessing whether mites found in archaeological samples are good indicators of past human activity
