0000000000653543
AUTHOR
Reinhard Gerecke
The water mites (Acari: Hydrachnidia) of the standing waters of Corsica, Sardinia and Sicily: review and new data
A compilation of our present knowledge of the water mites (Acari: Hydrachnidia) adapted to life in standing waters on the three large islands in the western Mediterranean (Corsica, Sardinia and Sicily) is provided. In addition to published data, this study deals with a rich volume of new material from recent field work, mostly deriving from intermittent ponds and pools, an extremely poorly investigated yet peculiar habitat type in the Mediterranean area. Species richness of water mites reported for the standing waters of the three islands amounts to 91 species. Out of the 47 species for which we present new distributional data, Hydrachna incisa Halbert, 1903, Hydrachna leegei Koenike, 1895,…
New distributional data for the Mediterranean medicinal leech Hirudo verbana Carena, 1820 (Hirudinea, Hirudinidae) in Italy, with a note on its feeding on amphibians
Author(s): Marrone, Federico; Alfonso, Giuseppe; Barbagallo, Rosario; Brandmayr, Pietro; Bruni, Giacomo; Costa, Simone; Farina, Giovanni; Gerecke, Reinhard; Iannarelli, Angelina; Mazza, Giuseppe; Mazzei, Antonio; Menchetti, Mattia; Moretti, Valerio; Mori, Emiliano; Novaga, Riccardo; Pecoraro, Marco; Schifani, Enrico; Stoch, Fabio; Vecchioni, Luca | Abstract: Scarce data are currently available about the distribution of the Mediterranean medicinal leech Hirudo verbana in Italy, and most of the known occurrence localities are based on records collected in the nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth century, which were not confirmed in the last decades, mostly due to a lack of surveys. …
Parasite-host relationships of water mites (Acari: Hydrachnidia) and black flies (Diptera: Simuliidae) in southeastern Spain
Abstract Background Documentation on water mites in Spain is scarce, as is information on the parasite-host relationship between certain water mite species and representatives of the dipteran family Simuliidae. The discomfort caused to humans and animals by black flies seems to be increasing in recent years. In this context, an investigation of parasitic water mites is of great importance, not only from the point of view of biodiversity, but also in terms of their potential to control black fly populations. Methods Rivers across a wide region of eastern Spain were sampled to determine the specific richness of simuliid dipterans and to investigate their possible parasites, such as water mite…