REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE Michael (1884, 1888) was the pioneer to undertake biological studies of oribatid mites by rearing a few species like Damaeus nitens, Notaspis bipilis and Cepheus palmicinctum in special culture cells made up of plastic rings mounted on microslides with preferred food items like lichen, decayed wood and cheese. He recorded the duration of their development as 32, 60 and 345 days respectively. Vitzthum (1923) confirmed the affinity of oribatid mites towards fungi and lower plant materials. Jacot (1933a) reported aparity, a phenomenon in which young ones come out after the death of the mother in notaspid oribatids except in the genus Galumna. Jacot (1934) studied the life history of some Hawaiian oribatids by culturing them in the laboratory. The meticulous work of Grandjean (1933, 1939) provided valuable information on the changes occurring in the chaetotaxy of oribatid mites during the process of development along with data on the morphological details of different life stages. Jacot (1937) recommended a new culture cell formed by a glass ring mounted on a microslide for culturing oribatid mites and he succeeded in rearing a few species in special culture cells lined with plaster of paris and charcoal mixture. Forsslund (1939) studied the gut contents of oribatid mites and found a range of fungal hyphae and spores. From India, Anantaraman (1944) reported the vector role of S. madrasensis by studying the development of Moniezia expansa in the body cavity of the above species. Stunkard (1944) raised Galumna sp. from egg to adult under laboratory conditions at a constant temperature of 25 0 C and a relative humidity of
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REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
Michael (1884, 1888) was the pioneer to undertake biological studies
of oribatid mites by rearing a few species like Damaeus nitens, Notaspis
bipilis and Cepheus palmicinctum in special culture cells made up of plastic
rings mounted on microslides with preferred food items like lichen, decayed
wood and cheese. He recorded the duration of their development as 32, 60
and 345 days respectively. Vitzthum (1923) confirmed the affinity of oribatid
mites towards fungi and lower plant materials. Jacot (1933a) reported aparity,
a phenomenon in which young ones come out after the death of the mother in
notaspid oribatids except in the genus Galumna. Jacot (1934) studied the life
history of some Hawaiian oribatids by culturing them in the laboratory. The
meticulous work of Grandjean (1933, 1939) provided valuable information
on the changes occurring in the chaetotaxy of oribatid mites during the
process of development along with data on the morphological details of
different life stages.
Jacot (1937) recommended a new culture cell formed by a glass ring
mounted on a microslide for culturing oribatid mites and he succeeded in
rearing a few species in special culture cells lined with plaster of paris and
charcoal mixture. Forsslund (1939) studied the gut contents of oribatid mites
and found a range of fungal hyphae and spores. From India, Anantaraman
(1944) reported the vector role of S. madrasensis by studying the
development of Moniezia expansa in the body cavity of the above species.
Stunkard (1944) raised Galumna sp. from egg to adult under laboratory
conditions at a constant temperature of 250C and a relative humidity of
Review of Literature 104
approximately 82%. Soldatova (1945) detected the total life span of 3 species
of oribatids viz., S. latipes, S. laevigatus and G. obvius which were found to
act as vectors of anoplocephaline cestodes. Kates and Runkel (1948) kept
oribatid mites in the laboratory in 50cc weighing bottles containing small
pieces of filter paper moistened with a few drops of water.
Riha (1951) was the first who showed that oribatid mites are not just
decomposer animals but also could feed on dead animals. Van Der Hammen
(1952) gave an illustrated description of the duetonymph of Fuscozetes
fuscipes along with the morphology of the immature forms of 4 common
species. Pauly (1952) traced the process of spermatophore deposition in
oribatids and he proposed this as the principal means of sperm transfer in
these mites. Cleat (1952) gave a brief account on the postembryonic
development of S. laevigatus by culturing the species in slender dishes.
Sengbusch (1954) reared 3 species of Galumna viz., G. nervosa,
G. elimatus and G. longipluma at a temperature of 25oC. One of the species,
G. nervosus was found to take an average of 47.1 days to complete its
development at a temperature of 250C. The same species when reared at a
temperature of 200C, took an average of 63.0 days. Rhode (1955) devised
culture vials using a mixture of plaster of paris and charcoal in dram vials for
rearing oribatid mites.
Pauly (1956) successfully completed the biological studies of 3
species of Belba., B. geniculosa, B. gracilipes and B. clavipes and reported
that the first species completed development within 150 days while the latter
2 look only 75 days. He further gave information on the spermatospore
production in the members of the family Belbidae. Copulation, a rare
Review of Literature 105
phenomenon in oribatid mites was reported for first time by Grandjean
(1956).
Schuster’s (1956) observation on oribatid feeding led to the
formulation of a nomenclatural framework to describe the feeding patterns of
oribatid mites as a whole. He grouped these mites into three categories viz.,
macrophytophages, microphytophages and panphytophages.
Grandjean (1957) correlated the structure of mouth parts of oribatid
mites in relation to feeding activity. He reported rutellum as a modified form
of infracapitular seta which would facilitate feeding.
Taberly (1957) observed the production of spermatophores in 17
species belonging to 15 genera and discussed their structural peculiarties.
Wallwork (1957) reported the borrowing habit of the adults and immatures of
some oribatids on the bark and hard wood of fallen twig. The same author
(1958) studied the feeding behaviour of several species of soil inhabiting
oribatids in relation to decomposition of litter.
Sengbusch (1958) revealed that the algal species Protococus and moss
served as excellent food item for culturing a variety of oribatid mites and
further traced life history of 8 species of oribatid mites. Stinkova (1959)
furnished an elaborate data on the life cycle of B. boreus by culturing it on
leaves and potatoes and recorded the duration of the life cycle as 120 days.
Wallwork (1960) recorded a higher temperature tolerance in a West
African oribatid species when compared to that of a North American oribatid
species.
Sengbusch (1961) studied the process of spermatophore deposition
and sperm transfer in oribatid mites. Woodring and Cook (1962) conducted
Review of Literature 106
studies on the biology of 3 species of oribatids, viz., C. cisalpinus, S. laevigatus
and O. neerlandica, giving details on spermatophore deposition and
morphological peculiarities of immatures. They further noted that the period
of the life cycle could be lengthened either by providing a minimum or
lowering the temperature.
Graves (1960) observed that Galumna sp. could feed on live larvae of
flies. Fuhrer (1961) reported the association between bacteria and mites.
Engelmann (1961) proposed that mites could be used to control fungi and
bacteria. Macfadyen (1961) indicated that soil oribatid mites could cause
rapid reinfection of soil samples by transporting micro-organisms on and in
their body. Evans et. al., (1961) identified Humerobates rostrolamellatus as
the pest of cherries. Bhattacharya (1962) succeeded to rear Damaeus onustus
upto the deutonymphal stages and recorded the average duration of egg, larva
and protonymph as 17.4, 56.57 and 60 days respectively. Further, he offered
a variety of food materials to 6 species of mites and found that several
species were omnivorous and concluded that the average longevity was an
indication of the nutritive value of food. Schuster (1962) confirmed the
occurrence of copulation in oribatid mites.
Feeding specificity of different species of oribatid mites was analyzed
elaborately by Hartenstein (1962 to 1962f). The author (1962a) recognized 3
types of feeders among oribatid mites viz., primarily wood and leaf feeders,
primarily fungivores, but would feed on wood and leaf tissue and strictly
fungivores. The same author (1962b) while studying the development of
B. kingi found that there was a rapid rate of development with a diet
Trichoderma sp. In the same year (1962c) he offered different types of fungi
to Metabelba montana and Eremobelba nervosa and he showed the
Review of Literature 107
preference of these mites to certain specific types of fungi and he also gave a
descriptive account on development, biology and ecology along with gross
morphology of immature stages. He reported (1962c) that Protoribates
lophotrichus could feed specifically upon decaying parenchymatous leaf
tissue, rich in living microorganisms and derived most of its sustenance from
the latter. He also revealed that, approximately 5 months were required for
the development from the adult to the egg stage. He (1962d) revealed that
C. gracilis could live in the litter layer of soil feeling predominantly upon
fungi. The over wintering tritonymph and the adults oviposited from early
spring until fall. At least 119 and as many as 149 days were required in the
laboratory at 200C for the completion of development from egg to adult. A
longer period might be required in nature where lower soil temperature could
be encountered.
Gasdorf and Goodnight (1963) reported a proportional increase in
ligin and decrease in cellulose in the faeces of Peloribates sp. and
Hermannia sp. normal of oribatids. Woodring (1963) reviewed the
nutritional and reproductive aspects of oibatid mites and provided a
consolidated list of oribatids which could be successfully reared in the
laboratory. Sengbusch (1963) recommended some methods for preparing
and culturing of oribatid mites. According to Lebrun (1964) litter dwelling
forms developed at a faster rate than the humus dwellers. Madge (1965)
carried out behavioural studies on B. geniculosa and revealed that this
species possessed true preferred temperature irrespective of other prevailing
physical and environmental conditions.
Jalil (1965) based on his field and laboratory observations, furnished
data on the life cycle of Hermannia scabra, providing illustrations of the