Dear acarologists,
    We have some problems with O. bacoti in our animal house where mainly
laboratory mice are kept. We tried several weekly treatments with permethrin
but to no availe. Can anyone advise on what acaricide to use and how to
apply it?
Thanks
Kosta Y. Mumcuoglu
Dept. of Parasitology
Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School
Jerusalem, Israel
 
 

X-Sender: zz@mailserver.nhm.ac.uk
Mime-Version: 1.0
Date: Thu, 4 May 1995 17:48:20 -0100
To: acarology@nhm.ac.uk
From: Z.Zhang@nhm.ac.uk
Subject: Hoyer's mediium
Sender: owner-acarology
Precedence: bulk

Does anyone know of any commercial sources for Hoyer's medium in the US or
elsewhere? A student wants to buy some and do not know where to go.
Thanks.

Zhi-Qiang Zhang

Question:

        Does anyone have any information on the modes of dispersal of the
fowl mite Dermanyssus hirundinis?  I am currently trying to assess how they
are transmitted from one house wren (Troglodytes aedon) nest to the next.
Although I believe that the adult birds are the primary mode of dispersal,
we have yet to detect these mites on adults(even after the young have left
the nest).  Rather, they're seen predominantly in the nesting material and
on the nestlings.
                                                Thanks,
                                                Andy Pacejka
                                ajpacej@rs6000.cmp.ilstu.edu
Andrew Pacejka
 

Colleagues:

   I am presently involved in a study of the genus Sphaeroseius, a  rarely
collected group of large, long-legged dermanyssoid associates of army ants.
Specimens have been collected both from ant nests and from active swarms and
columns.  If your holdings include any Neotropical material that more or
less fits the above description and modus operandi, please contact me.

                              With thanks,
                                Jerry Krantz
                                krantzg@bcc.orst.edu

Dear Andy (and fellow acarophilias),

Once again, someone who wants to receive the e-mail directory of the network
'acarology', s/he should send the command WHO ACAROLOGY to the e-mail address
listserver@nhm.ac.uk instead of acarology@nhm.ac.uk

Andrew Pacejka sent;
> who
> Andrew Pacejka

Cheers,
Cheol-Min Kim
Acarology Laboratory
Ohio State University
 

It is not enough that you apply the right acaricide/insecticide.  You did not
mention
where you apply the Permethrin, if you change the substrate in each cage,
clean the entire rearing area, if you check the animals which may harbor the
mite (possible source of new infestation).  I suggest remove all the
animals from the rearing room into a clean, non-infested area; spray
thoroughly the cages, crack, crevices, plug holes of the old rearing room
(prevent other animals with mites from coming in), put new beddings in
cages after treatment, etc.  Move the animals back.  This should
help.  If it does not, you might start thinking of another rearing
room, free of mites.

Aloha.  Sabina

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sabina Fajardo Swift            E-MAIL:swift@bishop.bishop.hawaii.org
Bishop Museum                   PHONE: (808) 847-8217
Department of Natural Sciences  FAX:   (808) 841-8968
P.O. Box 19000
Honolulu, Hawaii 96817
USA
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
 
 

Dear fellow acarologgists:

Many people kindly responded to my request regarding Hoyer's medium. They
are very infromative and some of the responses are of general interest.
Since the responses were sent to me instead of the net, I forward here a
digest for your information.

(1) The student would do well to read the following paper before embarking on
the use of Hoyer's medium: Upton, M.S. 1993. Aqueous gum-chloral slide
mounting media: an historical review. Bull. Ent. Res., 83: 267-274.  He
goes into considerable detail about the serious problems that have been
encountered with Hoyers - its longevity and safety are dubious - and
recommends that it not be used for permanent mounts. He states "those
workers still contemplating the use of these media should seriously consider
the likely consequenses should their collections become lost to science
[through deterioration of the medium] in years to come. I was an avid user
of Hoyers until I read this paper, and saw some important material that has
been completely ruined after only 15 years in Hoyers. I no longer use it at
all, favouring Euparal for permanent mounts.
Sent by: Matthew Colloff (matthewc@ento.csiro.au)

(2) At OSU we ended up making our own Hoyer's due to the poor quality of
the purchased material.  The only trouble was getting high quality Gum
Arabic. For Hoyer's, it's best to use the large crystals but most suppliers
now only sell the powdered kind (and this leads to lots of small bubbles in
the media, _very_ hard to get rid of!).
Sent by:  macraei@bugs.AgSci.ColoState.EDU (Ian MacRae)

(3) Hoyer's medium has not been commerically available in the USA for some
years because chloral hydrate, a main ingredient, is a controlled
substance under US law.  Individuals should check whether their
institutions have the required permits to store and transfer this
material.  If so, the other ingredients are readily available, and the
medium is not that difficult to prepare although it is time consuming.
I have also found that it is very difficult to obtain acacia gum (gum
arabic) in its raw form through "normal" chemical supply houses in the
USA.  They typically sell the purified, powdered form which is quite
difficult to dissolve completely.  I have solved the problem by
obtaining acacia gum in lump form through a local Indian grocery [sold
as "eatable gum"].
Sent by: Barry M. OConnor (bomc@umich.edu)

(4) We've always made our own. I don't know of a commercial source in the US or
anywhere else. If one exists, I'd like to know as well! If you decide to
make your own, one problem may be purchasing the chloral hydrate as I
believe it is now considered a controlled substance, at least here in the
US. Try to obtain the crystalline form of gum arabic as it will prove
easier to work with. Also, "aged" Hoyer's seems to handle better than newly
prepared material. I have some prepared in 1975 that's just right! There's
instructions for making Hoyer's in Krantz's Manual.
Sent by: Jack DeAngelis (deangelj@bcc.orst.edu)

Forwarded by

Zhi-Qiang Zhang
 
 

Dear fellow Acarologists:

Experimental and Applied Acarology is now published by Chapman & Hall.
Information for authors or a FREE sample copy can be requested from the
publisher. Here is a message sent to the Acarology list by Keith Silver
of Chapman & Hall.

>          Now Published by Chapman & Hall:
>          EXPERIMENTAL AND APPLIED ACAROLOGY
>
>          Editors: W Helle and L P S van der Geest, University of
>          Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
>
>          We are pleased to announce that, as of 1995, Chapman & Hall
>          are the new publishers of Experimental and Applied
>          Acarology.
>
>          Experimental and Applied Acarology is a monthly journal
>          publishing original scientific papers in the field of
>          experimental and applied acarology.  The Journal brings
>          together basic and applied research on various acarine
>          groups, in order that acarologists may more easily keep
>          abreast of developments in related fields.
>
>          Experimental and Applied Acarology covers different aspects
>          of working on agricultural mites, stored-product mites,
>          parasitic mites (ticks, Varroa, etc.) and mites of
>          environmental significance.  Subject matter dealt with may
>          originate from various disciplines such as general biology,
>          reproduction, physiology, genetics, evolution and
>          speciation, behaviour, ecology, epidemiology and all aspects
>          of control - eg. toxicology and pesticide resistance and
>          immunology.
>
>          The prices for Volume 19, 1995 (12 issues) are:
>
>          Full rate
>          USA/Canada: $538     EU/Rest of World: *368
>          Personal Rate:
>          USA/Canada: $312     EU/Rest of World: *156
>
>          For subscriptions, information for authors, or a FREE sample
>          copy, please contact:
>
>          Terry Sleight
>          Subscription Department
>          Chapman & Hall
>          ITPS Ltd, Cheriton House,
>          North Way
>          Andover
>          Hants, SP10 5BE, UK
>
>          email: chsub@itps.co.uk
>          Tel: +44 (0)1264 342713
>          Fax: +44 (0)1264 342807

Forwarded by

Zhi-Qiang Zhang
 

I thought this message should get to this listserver.

Sabina F. Swift
BPBM
 

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 15 May 1995 18:08:34 -0400
From: SOLORZANOL@par66.par.ora.fda.gov
To: Multiple recipients of list 
Subject: Mite media

Dear Netters:

        A colleague of mine is looking for a recipe and eqipment ideas for
artificial media for raising mites.  Rhizoglyphus in particular.  I remember
that some time ago this issue was discussed at length and many ideas were
suggested.  I did not save any of the ideas and was wondering if someone can
help me out?
 

Luis Solorzano
U.S. Food and Drug Administration
1431 Harbor Bay Parkway
Alameda CA 94502
e-mail: solorzano@par66.par.ora.fda.gov
 

Dear fellow acarologists,

After yesterday's posting of the message about the journal, Dr. Leo van der
Geest sent the message that the first issue by Chapman & Yall will come out
shortly. He pointed out a typo in the announcement by Chapman & Hall: Wim
Helle resigned as editor over A YEAR ago and Frans Jongejan of the
University of Utrecht has taken his place since. Frans Jongejan is taking
care of the papers concerning tick research and Leo van der Geest is
covering the rest of the Acari.

Zhi-Qiang Zhang

Dear acarologists,

As Dr Zhang said, I did a survey last year to compare people's experiences
with different types of slide media. The result was widespread criticism of
gum chloral media, including Hoyer's. The general feeling was that some
slides are good for many years, but others deteriorate in an inconsistent
and unpredictable way after only a short time in storage. My own slide
collection fits that pattern.

It seems as if Canada Balsam or Euparal are the media of choice. Does anyone
out there have any experience with euparal for mounting mites? How are
specimens prepared, how good is it optically for fine setae etc, and how
easy is it to remove specimens for re-mounting?
 
 
 

Bruce Halliday

===================================================================
Dr R. B. Halliday
Principal Research Scientist (Acarology)
CSIRO Division of Entomology
GPO Box 1700
Canberra ACT 2601
Australia

International Fax 61-6-2464000
Local Fax (06) 2464000
Telephone (06) 2464085
Internet bruceh@ento.csiro.au
===================================================================
 
 

        Here at the University of Arizona, some people are interested in
mite identification. They are having a problem with genitalia clearing to
almost invisible after being slide mounted for only a few months. Specimens
are cleared in Hoyer's. Will staining of the specimens make a difference? I
would appreciate any suggestions regarding this topic. Thank you.
 
 

W. Eugene Hall
Department of Entomology
University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ 85721
Ph #: 602-621-5925        e-mail: wehall@ag.arizona.edu
 

Sorry mitey folks, but does anyone know the e-mail address of Jim Keirans
of Georgia or the snail mail address of Carleton Clifford, formerly of
Rocky Mountain Laboratory in Montana?

Please send message to my address.  Thanks and aloha.

Sabina

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sabina Fajardo Swift            E-MAIL:swift@bishop.bishop.hawaii.org
Bishop Museum                   PHONE: (808) 847-8217
Department of Natural Sciences  FAX:   (808) 841-8968
P.O. Box 19000
Honolulu, Hawaii 96817
USA
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 

Dear fellow acarologists:

I saw a message posted on entomo-l again about Hoyer's (see attached). I
remember there was a survey about media for insects and mites on that
network last year (Dr. Bruce Halliday, leading the discussion). The resaon
against Hoyer's is obvious, but do we have a better alternative.  I rarely
use Hoyer's anymore and do most identifications using temporal mount. I do
want to have permanent mounts, but I have no solution at the moment.
Upton's paper suggests euparal and other perminent media.  I have seen
shrunk specimens in this medium (perhaps improrperly prepared?) and we have
specimens in gum choral in the British Museum that were prepared by S.
Hirst in early 1900s that still look amazingly clear.  I am sorry that I
have to raise this question again for discussion, but it is an unsolved
problem for many of us.  Sharing experience is likely beneficial to all of
us.

Forwarded message
_

To all mite people,

    Please, please, please do not use Hoyer's to mount mites or anything
else really. Hoyer's is not a permanent media. I have been associated with
several collections in my career and _all_ of them have had to deal with
the problem of deteriorating slide collections in Hoyer's. Remounting such
material is tedious and expensive. If you value your specimens and feel
they have something to contribute to the future of science, be aware that
Hoyer's slides will barely outlive you. I have not seen any ringing
material that works 100% of the time. If you wish to use the slides only
for the duration of a research project, then Hoyer's is fine, but be sure
at least to mount up a set of vouchers in balsam.

    Sorry you all had to hear my pet peeve #27 but there it is.

Steve Heydon
slheydon@ucdavis.edu
____________________
end of message

Forwarded by

Zhi-Qiang Zhang

CAB INTERNATIONAL has recently computerized its massive ARTHROPOD NAME
INDEX, including many mite generic and specific names.  A book version and
electronic version are being published. The electronic version is
especially useful.  This index includes all mite names found in the CABI
database. Many of the names have been checked and updated using authorative
systematic catalog and monographs Names of non-economically important taxa
may not be complete.

In reply to Biocat@uts.cc.utexas.edu (Joel Hallan), who wrote on 25 May 1995
>I have typed into my computer the 1950 reference [French] that has a list of
>the
>world's mite genera.  This list is very out of date.  Does anyone know of
>someone
>working on updating all or part of this list?  I would hate to do work that
>someone
>else already has done?
>
>Joel Hallan
>1801 S. Lakeshore Blvd. #275
>Austin, Texas 78741
>(512) 416-6065
 

Zhi-Qiang Zhang
 

Apologies for cross-posting:

Thanx to the kindness of Herman Vanuytven
(DSE.VANUYTVEN.H@ALPHA.UFSIA.AC.BE) and the computer facilities at Antwerp
University, arachnologists now have the opportunity of joining a roundtable
discussion group (mailing list server) devoted to their specialty.

For the near future we envision that the discussion list's primary focus
will be the creation of arachnological databases on the Internet.  In the
next few years it seems likely that the various professional societies will
want to make it possible to download from the Internet some or all of:

the various information now provided by CIDA
the society membership lists
Vince Roth's Spider Key
the arachnological journals
other existing and conceivable arachnological resources.

The burgeoning Internet databases created by entomologists show how useful
and popular such resources can be.  We hope the new discussion group will
make it possible to come up with some specific proposals that could be
considered at least in a prelimary, informal way at the Arachnological
Congress this summer.

Discussion on the list will undoubtedly cover many other topics.  However,
we suggest that contributors keep in mind the existence of other mailing
lists devoted to acarology, entomology (in the broad sense that seems to
include most land arthropods), systematics/ phylogenetic computer
databases, and the maintenance of natural history collections.  There is
also an 'arachnid' list which is primarily devoted to the concerns of those
who keep arachnids (especially tarantulas and scorpions) in captivity.  We
envision that the topics covered in our list will be ones that are of
interest very specifically to arachnologists and their societies, and that
there may be long periods of silence on the list, interspersed with
occasional announcements and bursts of discussion.

TO SUBSCRIBE (note for those accustomed to 'listserv' software, 'majordomo'
software is subtly different):

send an E-mail message to :

Majordomo@ufsia.ac.be

Within the body of the message:

subscribe arachnology
end

(Althugh omitted from now on, it is helpful to put the end command after
the last command.)

To get off the list send the command:

unsubscribe arachnology

To get a list of members:

who arachnology

For general information:

help

or:

info arachnology

To get a list of downloadable files (such as archived past discussion):

index arachnology

To get one of those files:

get arachnology FILENAME

(These files and some other spider-related files maintained by Herman
Vanuytven can also be obtained by ftp from sesoserv.ufsia.ac.be)
 

TO POST A MESSAGE TO THE ENTIRE GROUP send that message to:

arachnology@ufsia.ac.be
 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mark Stowe c/o Jon Reiskind
Department of Zoology
University of Florida
Gainesville, FL 32611 USA
E-mail: MKS@ZOO.UFL.EDU
phone: 904 373 3202, 904 392 1187
fax: 904 392 3704
 
 

        One of the working-groups at the Department of
ecology here in Lund, Sweden, is trying to grow
moth-larvae (Lepidoptera) on a medium of crushed
white beans, brewery yeast, and agar with additive
of fungicides. These cultures are frequently
invaded by mites, most often Tyrophagus sp. (i e
T. putrescentiae). The mites do no harm to the
moth-larvae but they compete for food, polute the
medium, and are an annoyance to the people working
in the lab. Is there anyone who has an idea about
how to avoid mites in such circumstances?

        Lars Lundqvist, Lund University, e-mail:
Lars.Lundqvist@zool.lu.se

On Wed, 24 May 1995, Lars Lundqvist wrote:

 These cultures are frequently
> invaded by mites, most often Tyrophagus sp. (i e
> T. putrescentiae). The mites do no harm to the
> moth-larvae but they compete for food, polute the
> medium, and are an annoyance to the people working
> in the lab.
>
>       Lars Lundqvist, Lund University, e-mail:
> Lars.Lundqvist@zool.lu.se
>
Lars,

In Parasites of Laboratory Animals by R.J. Flynn, 1973, Iowa State Univ.
Press, C. Yunker has a chapter on mites.  Perhaps you'll get some ideas on
what to do with your lab problem.

How are you doing?  Aloha,  Sabina

Sabina Fajardo Swift
Bishop Museum