Investigating chemical communication in oribatid and astigmatid mites in bioassays - Pitfalls and suggestions
Keywords:
chemical ecology, pseudoreplication, bioassay, emitting source, diffusion, Oribatida, AstigmataAbstract
A pair of exocrine opisthonotal oil glands from which more than one hundred chemical compounds have been described characterizes the glandulate Oribatida and the Astigmata. While allomonal and pheromonal properties were demonstrated for some of these compounds in some species, the biological function has remained unknown in most cases. The few existing studies on chemical communication used different kinds of experimental designs with bioassays and impregnated filter paper as source for scent dispersal. Like this, the existence of alarm-, aggregation- and sex-pheromones has been demonstrated. Here, we show that most of these studies may have suffered from some shortcomings regarding two parts of the experimental design: i) proper replication and ii) source for scent dispersal.
Hence, this contribution has two principle parts: in the first part we focus on bioassay design and the occurrence of pseudoreplication by analyzing published studies with astigmatid and oribatid mites in a literature survey. The second part concerns the source for scent dispersal used in bioassays: we investigated the evaporation dynamics of multi-component-secretions from paper and paper/clay combinations and show that these represent two different principal kinds of sources (instantaneous vs. continuous release of scents). Paper alone is an improper source for long-standing bioassays (i.e. several minutes) because different compounds evaporate with different rates leading to a dramatic change in relative composition. This is much less pronounced in a paper/clay combination.
Downloads
References
Bossert, W. H. & E. O. Wilson (1963): The analysis of olfactory communication among animals. – Journal of Theoretical Biology 5: 443–469.
Heethoff, M., L. Koerner, R. A. Norton & G. Raspotnig (2011): Tasty but protected - First evidence of chemical defense in oribatid mites. – Journal of Chemical Ecology 37: 1037–1043.
Heethoff, M., M. Laumann & P. Bergmann (2007): Adding to the reproductive biology of the parthenogenetic oribatid mite, Archegozetes longisetosus (Acari, Oribatida, Trhypochthoniidae). – Turkish Journal of Zoology 31: 151–159.
Heethoff, M. & G. Raspotnig (2011): Is 7-hydroxyphthalide a natural compound of oil gland secretions? Evidence from Archegozetes longisetosus (Acari, Oribatida). – Acarologia 51: 229–236.
Heethoff, M. & G. Raspotnig (2012): Expanding the ‘enemy-free space’ for oribatid mites: Evidence for chemical defense of juvenile Archegozetes longisetosus against the rove beetle Stenus juno. – Experimental and Applied Acarology 56: 93–97.
Hiraoka, H., N. Mori, K. Okabe, R. Nishida & Y. Kuwahara (2003): Chemical ecology of astigmatid mites LXIX. Neryl formate [3,7-dimethyl-(Z)-2,6-octadienyl formate] as the alarm pheromone of an acarid mite, Histiogaster rotundus Woodring (Acari: Acaridae). – Applied Entomology and Zoology 38: 379–385.
Hurlbert, S. H. (1984): Pseudoreplication and the design of ecological field experiments. – Ecological Monographs 54: 187–211.
Kuwahara, Y. (2004): Chemical ecology of astigmatid mites. – In: Cardé, R. T. & J. G. Millar (eds): Advances in Insect Chemical Ecology. – Cambridge University Press, Cambridge: 76-109.
Kuwahara, Y., T. Ibi, Y. Nakatani, A. Ryouno, N. Mori, T. Sakata, K. Okabe, K. Tagami & K. Kurosa (2001): Chemical ecology of atigmatid mites LXI. Neral, the alarm pheromone of Schwiebea elongata (Acari: Acaridae). – Journal of the Acarological Society of Japan 10: 19–25.
Kuwahara, Y., S. Ishii & H. Fukami (1975): Neryl formate: Alarm pheromone of the cheese mite, Tyrophagus putrescentiae (Schrank)(Acarina, Acaridae). – Experientia 31: 1115–116.
Kuwahara, Y., K. Matsumoto & Y. Wada (1980): Pheromone study on acarid mites IV. Citral: composition and function as an alarm pheromone and its secretory gland in four species of acarid mites. – Japanese Journal of Sanitary Zoology 31: 73–80.
Law, J. H. & F. E. Regnier (1971): Pheromones. – Annual Review of Biochemistry 40: 533–548.
Lazic, S. E. (2010): The problem of pseudoreplication in neuroscientific studies: is it affecting our analysis? BMC Neuroscience 11: 5.
Mizoguchi, A., N. Mori, R. Nishida & Y. Kuwahara (2003): α-Acaridial a female sex pheromone from an alarm pheromone emitting mite Rhizoglyphus robini. – Journal of Chemical Ecology 29: 1681–1690.
Mori, N., Y. Kuwahara & K. Kurosa (1996): Chemical ecology of astigmatid mites - XLV. (2R, 3R)- epoxyneral: sex pheromone of the acarid mite Caloglyphus sp. (Acarina: Acaridae). – Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry 4: 289–295.
Nishimura, K., N. Shimizu, N. Mori & Y. Kuwahara (2002): Chemical ecology of astigmatid mites. LXIV. The alarm pheromone neral functions as an attractent in Schwiebea elongata (Banks)(Acari:Acaridae). – Applied Entomology and Zoology 37: 13–18.
Oksanen, L. (2001): Logic of experiments in ecology: is pseudoreplication a pseudoissue? – Oikos 94: 27–38.
Ramirez, C. C., E. Fuentes-Contreras, L. C. Rodriguez & H. M. Niemeyer (2000): Pseudoreplication and its frequency in olfactometric laboratory studies. – Journal of Chemical Ecology 26: 1423–1431.
Raspotnig, G. (2006): Chemical alarm and defence in the oribatid mite Collohmannia gigantea (Acari: Oribatida). – Experimental and Applied Acarology 39: 177–194.
Raspotnig, G. & P. Föttinger (2008): Analysis of individual oil gland secretion profiles in oribatid mites (Acari: Oribatida). – International Journal of Acarology 34: 409–417.
Raspotnig, G., R. A. Norton & M. Heethoff (2011): Oribatid mites and skin alkaloids in poison frogs. – Biology Letters 7: 555–556.
Sakata, T. & R. A. Norton (2001): Opisthonotal gland chemistry of early-derivative oribatid mites (Acari) and its relevance to systematic relationships of Astigmata. – International Journal of Acarology 27: 281–292.
Schatz, H. (2002): Die Oribatidenliteratur und die beschriebenen Oribatidenarten (1758–2001) – Eine Analyse. – Abhandlungen und Berichte des Naturkundemuseums Görlitz 74: 37–45.
Shimano, S., T. Sakata, Y. Mizutani, Y. Kuwahara & J.-I. Aoki (2002): Geranial: The alarm pheromone in the nymphal stage of the oribatid mite, Nothrus palustris. – Journal of Chemical Ecology 28: 1831– 1837.
Shimizu, N., N. Mori & Y. Kuwahara (2001): Aggregation pheromone activity of the female sex pheromone, β-acaridial, in Caloglyphus polyphyllae (Acari: Acaridae). – Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Biochemistry 65: 1724–1728.
Tatami, K., N. Mori, R. Nishida & Y. Kuwahara (2001): 2-Hydroxy-6-methylbenzaldehyde: the female sex pheromone of the house dust mite Dermatophagoides farinae (Astigmata: Pyroglyphidae). – Medical Entomology and Zoology 52: 279–286.
Tomita, A., N. Shimizu, N. Mori, R. Nishida, H. Nakao & Y. Kuwahara (2003): Chemical ecology of astignatid mites. LXXI. Neryl formate (Z)-3,7-dimethyl-2,6-octadienal formate as the alarm pheromone of Tyroborus lini Oudemans 1924, and its recovery after forced discharge. – Journal of the Acarological Society of Japan 12: 11–19.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
All articles on www.soil-organisms.org may be read, copied, distributed, and (in limited quantity) printed for non-commercial, private, scientific purposes.
