Molecular systematics of Acarus siro s. lat., a complex of stored food pests

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The astigmatid mite Acarus siro (Linnaeus 1758) is an important agricultural pest and environmental allergen. However, it is likely that many mites described in the literature as A. siro, collected from both outdoor and stored product habitats, may belong to one of its sibling species, A. farris [Ent. Ber. Amst. 2 (26) (1905) 20] or A. immobilis [Bull. Br. Mus. Nat. Hist. 11 (1964a) 413; Acarologia. 6 (Suppl) (1964) 101]. The three species are difficult to separate morphologically, gene exchange between some of them is possible, and, although each species displays environmental preferences, they occur together in some environments. These features raise a question about their separate species status. In a pilot study, the authors investigated whether genetic data supported the separate species status of these forms. Both nuclear (the second internal transcribed spacer region [ITS-2] of the ribosomal cistron) and mitochondrial (cytochrome oxidase subunit I, mtcox1 hereafter) loci were employed for this purpose. Mtcox1 data do not conflict the differentiation into three separate species, and while the ITS2 data were problematic for this group of mites, they suggested that a congener, Acarus gracilis [Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. 10 (1957) 753], is basal to the A. siro species complex.

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ELECTRONIC FILE - Zoology: Invertebrates

Note: Supplementary data associated with this article can be found, in the online version, at doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2004.04.005.

Citation: Webster LMI, Thomas RH, McCormack GP. 2004. Molecular systematics of Acarus siro s. lat., a complex of stored food pests. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 32(3):817–822.