| New records of Eutrombidium aegyptium and E. tehranicum from Zanjan province |
| Paper ID : 1041-IPCA5 (R1) |
| Authors |
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Hanieh Khodayari *1, Marjan Seiedy1, Masoud Hakimitabar2 1University of Tehran 2University of Shahrood |
| Abstract |
| The subfamily Eutrombidiinae Thor, 1935, within the family Microtrombidiidae Thor, 1935, currently comprises 14 genera . One of them, Eutrombidium Verdun, 1909, is a genus which predominantly parasitizes Orthoptera. To date, in the genus Eutrombidium, 18 species are known from active post-larval stages, E. trigonum (Hermann, 1804) was described based on both larval and post-larval stages and 22 species have been described based on larval stages only. The following larval species have been previously recorded from Asia : E. robauxi Southcott, 1993 (Croatia, Greece and Turkey), E. feldmanmuhsame Feider, 1977 (Cyprus and Israel), E. indicum Southcott, 1993 (India), E. sepasgosariani Saboori, Nemati & Mossadegh, 2000 (Iran), E. mossadeghi Saboori & Nemati, 2001 (Iran), E. aegyptium Iravanlou, Kamali & Talebi, 2000 (Iran) and E. tehranicum Iravanlou, Kamali & Talebi, 2000 (Iran), E. sorbasiensis Mayoral et Barranco, 2004 (Spain and Iran), E. sigirijanum Haitlinger, 2006 ( Sri Lanka), E. laosanum Haitlinger, 2006 ( Laos and Indonesia). In this research, we report new records of E. aegyptium and E. tehranicum parasitizing grasshoppers in Zanjan Province. Grasshopper hosts were collected from June to September 2024 with insect sweep nets during surveys in three distinct ecosystems: mountainous regions of the Mahneshan mountain range, alluvial plains along the Qezel Ozan River, and agricultural rangelands within wheat fields in Mahneshan County, Zanjan Province. The larvae of these parasitengone mites were detached from the grasshopper hosts using an insect pin. Specimens were preserved in 75% alcohol, cleared in Nesbitt’s fluid, and mounted on microscopic slides using Faure’s medium. Specimens of E. aegyptium were collected from grasshopper hosts, including Calliptamus barbarus (Costa, 1836) (36 specimens), Sphingonotus nebulosus (Fischer von Waldheim, 1846) (3 specimens), and Oedipoda miniata (Pallas, 1771) (10 specimens). These host species were distributed across three ecosystems: mountainous regions (9 specimens), agricultural rangelands (22 specimens), and alluvial plains (18 specimens). Specimens of E. tehranicum were collected from grasshopper hosts, including C. barbarus (37 specimens), Sphingonotus coerulipes Uvarov, 1922 (11 specimens), Oedipoda miniata (13 specimens), Acrotylus insubricus (Scopoli, 1786) (1 specimens) and Eremopeza saussurei (Uvarov, 1918) (1 specimens). These host species were distributed across three ecosystems: mountainous regions (7 specimens), agricultural rangeland (38 specimens), and alluvial plain (18 specimens). In addition, we report grasshopper as new hosts for E. aegyptium, including Calliptamus barbarus, Sphingonotus nebulosus, Oedipoda miniata and for E. tehranicum including Sphingonotus coerulipes, Oedipoda miniata, Acrotylus insubricus, Eremopeza saussurei. The findings indicate that E. aegyptium and E. tehranicum exhibit a broad host range, parasitizing various species of grasshoppers across diverse ecosystems in Zanjan Province. |
| Keywords |
| Mahneshan mountain range, Orthoptera, Parasitengone, Eutrombidium, New hosts. |
| Status: Abstract Accepted |
