I'm an immunologist interested in house dust mites/storage mites, and *why* they are allergenic. As part of this work I've been looking at microfauna/flora co-factors that may affect how an immune response to mites may be skewed towards allergic responses. One of the most obvious co-factors is of course fungi. I am however finding it very difficult to find any written work that describes which species fungi are most important for the mites I am interested in. As far as I can see there may be two factors important in allergic sensitisation to mites that may concern fungi. The first is fungal metabolites passed out in the faeces and the second is the new growth of fungus on the faeces once deposited. Whether these hypotheses are viable or not depends in large part on the species of fungus eaten by these mites, or the species that inhabit the same habitat as the mites.

I wonder if you could help me by pointing me in the direction of some written work on this subject, or suggesting one of your colleagues who may be able to help.

Thank you

Dr. Colin R.A. Hewitt,
Immunotoxicology Laboratory,
Centre for Mechanisms of Human Toxicity,
PO Box 138,
Hodgkin Building,
University of Leicester,
LEICESTER.
LE1 9HN
U.K.

+44 (0)116 2525587 Phone
+44 (0)116 2525616 Fax crah1@leicester.ac.uk

At 9:04 AM 8/2/96, "Dr. Colin R.A. Hewitt" (by way of Z.Zh wrote:
>I'm an immunologist interested in house dust mites/storage mites, and *why*
>they are allergenic.
>I wonder if you could help me by pointing me in the direction of some
>written work on this subject, or suggesting one of your
>colleagues who may be able to help.
>
Dear Dr. Hewitt et al.
        I reviewed mite-fungal associations in the following paper:
        OConnor, B.M.  1984.  Acarine-fungal relationships: the evolution of symbiotic associations. in Wheeler, Q. and M. Blackwell (eds.), Fungus-Insect Relationships: Perspectives in Ecology and Evolution. Columbia University Press, New York.  pp. 354-81.
        This paper concentrates on the use of macroscopic fungi by mites. A better reference on the association between fungi and stored product/house dust mites is the following:
        Sinha, R. 1964.  Ecological relationships of stored-product mites and seed-borne fungi.  Acarologia 6 (Suppl.): 372-389.
        Hope these references are useful.
 

Barry M. OConnor                phone: (313) 763-4354
Museum of Zoology               FAX: (313) 763-4080
University of Michigan          e-mail: bmoc@umich.edu
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1079  USA

From:  KREITER <kreiter@msdos.ensam.inra.fr>
To: AGCAN.INTERNET("acarology@nhm.ac.uk")
Date:  8/2/96 7:36pm
Subject:  Ascidae

Dear acarologists,

In a field study of colonization of crops by phytoseiid mites, I have trapped in many locations in France, several species of mesostigmatic mites, most of them  belonging to Ascidae.
Is anybody interested by helping me in identification of these mites or by  providing me with the name of a specialist ?
Thanking you in advance,

Dr Serge KREITER.

From:  Pablo A. Martinez <pamartin@uni-mdp.edu.ar>
To: Red de Acarologos <acarology@nhm.ac.uk>
Date:  8/6/96 1:34pm
Subject:  Antarctic oribatid

Dear acarologists:
I am interested in the genus Antarcticola Wallwork, 1967. I have the  original description of the genus and the type species, A. meyeri. But in  the catalog of Balogh and Balogh (Oribatid mites genera of the world,  1992) them write that exists three species of this genus.
Anybody know the other two species, were are published, etc.?
Thanks for all
Sincerely

               Pablo A. Martinez
               Mar del Plata
               Argentina

Dear colleagues,

we are looking for samples of living ticks from some pathogen free  laboratory colonies, we need for our comparative biochemical studies:

Amblyomma hebraeum, A. americanum, A. variegatum
Hyalomma dromedarii
Ornithodoros porcinus, O. parkeri

We are able to offer in exchange the following tick species  from our laboratory breeds:

Argas persicus, A.reflexus, A.polonicus, A.vulgaris
Ornithodoros moubata, O.tartakovskyi, O.papillipes, O.erraticus

Thanks in anticipation.
F. Dusbabek

Dr. F. Dusbabek
Institute of Parasitology
Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic
Branisovska 31
CZ-370 05 Ceske Budejovice  Tel. 42-38-817, ext. 624
Czech Republic    Fax  42-38-47743

From:  js314 <Jeffrey_W_SHULTZ@umailsrv0.umd.edu>
To: AGCAN.INTERNET("acarology@nhm.ac.uk")
Date:  8/17/96 6:25pm
Subject:  Grad Opportunity in Arachnology

                        GRADUATE RESEARCH OPPORTUNITY  IN
                           COMPARATIVE ARACHNOLOGY

I currently have space and funding available for M.S. and Ph.D. students who are interested in pursuing work in the comparative biology of arthropods, especially arachnids. Current work focuses on the functional morphology and phylogeny of arachnids, but students with related interests are welcome.

I am located in the Department of Entomology at the University of Maryland at College Park near Washington, DC.  The Department will soon relocate to a new building with state-of-the-art facilities.  The Department has a strong program in systematic biology and is a member of a consortium, the Maryland Center for Systematic Entomology (MCSE), that also includes the Department of Entomology at USNM and the USDA Systematics Lab.

Please address inquiries to:
                                        Jeff Shultz
                                        Deparment of Entomology
                                        University of Maryland
                                        College Park, MD 20742-5575
                                        TEL: 301-405-7519
                                        Email: js314@umail.umd.edu

Current projects in my laboratory include

1) Functional morphology of morphology of locomotion in arthropods

Relevant equipment includes:

         1) Variable-speed, enclosed miniature treadmill
         2) Two high-speed (60 or 200 Hz) video cameras
      3) Electromyography apparatus including 12 Grass AC preamps, 14-channel TEAC data  recorder, 16-channel thermal array chart recorder, 4-channel digital storage oscilloscope

2) Comparative morphology and systematics of arachnids

Relevant equipment includes

        1) Two Wild microscopes with video attachments
        2) Microtome, etc.
        3) Molecular systematics of the major arthropod lineages (w/ J.C. Regier)

        Newly developed nuclear, protein-coding genes are being used to resolve relationships among arthropods at the ordinal level, with special emphasis on Chelicerata and Myriapoda.  This is being conducted in a state-of-the-art facility using RT-PCR and automated sequencing.

I am an ecologist with a new interest in mites - ie lots of enthusiasm but little experience.

To the west of Stirling is a village which is plagued by a species of mesostigmatid mite. This mite, found in gardens, fields and the park, is pale yellow and bites readily, leaving a very itchy weal, like a mosquito.  It is very possible, I am told, to get bitten 30-50 times after a period working outside.

Can anyone suggest either what this is, or, sources of information on biting mites?  The library's only reference on mites and ticks is Evans, Sheals & Macfarlane 1961!

Many thanks

Tim

Dr Tim Benton
Dept of Biological & Molecular Sciences
University of Stirling
Stirling FK9 4LA tel - 01786 467809 fax - 01786 464994
 

From:  bertrand <bertrand@bred.univ-montp3.fr>
To: AGCAN.INTERNET("acarology@nhm.ac.uk")
Date:  8/20/96 5:44am
Subject:  cours internationaux d acarologie

10th edition of international courses of acarology organized by SIALF will  occur in RENNES (France) from 16th to 21rst september. Thema is: GENERAL  ACAROLOGY with special attention to technics and practice. previsionnal program: ecology : H.M. ANDRE (Terwuren)
Systematic and molecular biology, ultramicroscopy : J. DEUNFF (Rennes)
Observation and methods in acarology: Y.COINEAU (Paris)
Anactinotrichida, adaptation: F.BINCHE (Banyuls, Paris) statistics, and others mathematic models: A. BELLIDO (Rennes)
Cryptostigmatic mites: G. WAUTHY (Bruxelles) acarology, fundaments, actinotrichida: M. BERTRAND (Montpellier) fee 1500FF for students + accomodation  inscriptions M.BERTRAND univ montpellier3 bp 5043 3402 montpellier france
Michel Bertrand
ZOOGEOGRAPHIE
Univ Montpellier3
BP5043 34032 MONTPELLIER
FRANCE

Dr. Russell W. Strandtmann, pioneer Acarologist, died August 7,  1996 at his home in Maxwell, Texas.  He was 86 years old. He was a grand  old man, full of warmth and great humor.  He was survived by his wife,  Mary Ruth Chance Strandtmann and two sons, Lamar and Sturgeon.

He was at the last IX Acarology Congress in Columbus, Ohio, July 1994.

In 1989, when he retired from Texas Tech, he was quoted in a news article  (B. Porterfield, Austin American, 21 April 1989) on his concern  about the environment.  He said,  "I've a great  concern about what we're doing to the ecology.  People think of the  planet Earth as almost indestructible, and it is.  But when you consider  that life forms such a thin film on this crust of this big bowling ball,  then you understand the fragility of life and the organic environment.   We must have birth control among humans, and we have to control plants  and insects biologically, like nature does, no chemically."

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

Dear acarologists:
Joel Hallan of Texas has built a database of generic names of the Acari and
has made it availbale on WWW. Please see the following for details.
Responses should be directed to biocat@uts.cc.utexas.edu (Joel Hallan).

Z.-Q. Zhang

>Date: Fri, 30 Aug 1996 12:21:22 -0500 (CDT)
>X-Sender: biocat@uts.cc.utexas.edu (Unverified)
>To: Z.Zhang@nhm.ac.uk (Zhi-Qiang Zhang)
>From: biocat@uts.cc.utexas.edu (Joel Hallan)
>Subject: Re: Greetings
>
>Dear  Zhi-Qiang,
>
>I have put a list of 3800 acari genera on the web.
>
>My web address for downloading the data is:
>
>http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~biocat/
>
>The Oribatids are from the 1992 catalogue, but the rest is based on the
>1950 catalogue and 1978-1994 updates from Zoo Record plus whatever
>recent catalogues I could find.  I have asked for help and have had a few
>people offer to give help, but very little data has come forth.  Perhaps if
>I make the entire data set available to any acarologist, they will take it more
>seriously.
>
>There are also some synopses of the data [download 4 and 5] that should be
>looked at to get a better overall view of the data.
>
>If you think the acarology community would be interested in downloading the
>data, I would appreciate it if you would post this message to the Acarology
>Net.
>
>Thank you,
>
>Joel
>
>Joel Hallan
>4405 Manzanillo Dr.
>Austin, TX 78749
>512-280-2546

I would like to have bibliographic references about acaracides.
Thank you. Sirlei

*************************
*  SIRLEI DAFFRE        *
*  Parasitologia - ICB  *
*    USP - SP - BRASIL  *
*************************

*************************
*  SIRLEI DAFFRE        *
*  Parasitologia - ICB  *
*    USP - SP - BRASIL  *
*************************

On Fri, 30 Aug 1996, Joel Hallan wrote:

Dear Acarologists,

I made a mistake and named two files the same name.  The data file was not available.  I have corrected the mistake and it is now available.

I am very sorry,

 Joel

>
> Joel Hallan
> 4405 Manzanillo Dr.
> Austin, TX 78749
> 512-280-2546
>
>
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