137 articles
Heartwater
Heartwater, also known as cowdriosis, is a tick-borne rickettsial disease of ruminants caused by Ehrlichia ruminantium and transmitted by Amblyomma ticks across sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean.
House dust mite
House dust mite (Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus, D. farinae) is a humidity-dependent domestic arachnid whose fecal allergens Der p 1 and Der p 2 drive asthma and rhinitis; controlled trials show avoidance measures give little clinical benefit, while immunotherapy is disease-modifying.
Hyalomma
Hyalomma (Koch, 1844) is a genus of large hard ticks in Ixodidae, subfamily Hyalomminae, with about 27 species across Africa, Asia, and southern Europe; principal vectors of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus and Theileria annulata.
Hydrachnidia
Hydrachnidia (water mites; Hydrachnidiae, Hydracarina) are freshwater mites, nearly 6,000 species, the largest arachnid group in fresh water, with parasitic larvae and predatory adults, valuable but widely neglected bioindicators of stream and spring water quality.
Hypoaspis
Hypoaspis is a genus of Laelapidae mites (Mesostigmata) described by Canestrini in 1884, once a broad catch-all genus now restricted to about 36 soil predatory species; its former members include the biocontrol mites Gaeolaelaps aculeifer and Stratiolaelaps scimitus.
Ixodes
Ixodes is the largest genus of hard ticks (Ixodidae), with 15 subgenera and roughly 249 to over 280 species, defined by an anterior anal groove, no eyes or festoons, and including the main Lyme disease vectors I. ricinus, I. scapularis, I. pacificus, and I. persulcatus.
Ixodes holocyclus
Ixodes holocyclus, the Australian or eastern paralysis tick, is a hard tick of humid coastal eastern Australia. Its salivary holocyclotoxins cause ascending flaccid paralysis, and it transmits Queensland tick typhus and Q fever.
Ixodes pacificus
Ixodes pacificus, the western blacklegged tick, is a three-year-lifecycle hard tick of far western North America and the primary western US vector of Lyme disease, anaplasmosis, and Borrelia miyamotoi disease.
Ixodes persulcatus
Ixodes persulcatus, the taiga tick, is a Palearctic hard tick of Eurasian forests from 21°N to 66°N; main vector of Siberian and Far Eastern tick-borne encephalitis virus and carrier of 51 microbial agents.
Ixodes ricinus
Ixodes ricinus, the castor bean or sheep tick, is Europe's principal hard-tick disease vector, transmitting Lyme borreliosis and tick-borne encephalitis across a range expanding to higher altitudes and latitudes.
Ixodes scapularis
Ixodes scapularis, the blacklegged or deer tick, is a hard tick of eastern North America and the primary US vector of Lyme disease, anaplasmosis, babesiosis, ehrlichiosis, relapsing fever, and Powassan virus, with a two-year, three-host life cycle.
Laelapidae
Laelapidae (synonym Laelaptidae) is a diverse family of Mesostigmata mites in Dermanyssoidea, with over 1,300 species in nine subfamilies: rodent ectoparasites, soil predators, arthropod associates, disease vectors, and biocontrol agents.
Laelaps (mite)
Laelaps (Koch, 1836) is the type genus of mite family Laelapidae, rodent fur ectoparasites such as the spiny rat mite L. echidninus; molecular work challenges its monophyly and cosmopolitan status.
Liacaridae
Liacaridae (Sellnick, 1928) is a family of oribatid soil mites in superfamily Gustavioidea, including genera Liacarus, Xenillus, Adoristes, and Dorycranosus; first fossil Liacarus shtanchaevae from Albian Spanish amber.
Lorryia formosa
Lorryia formosa (citrus yellow mite, Ácaro amarillo de los cítricos), a Tydeidae mite under 250 µm with six life stages, thelytokous reproduction, feeding on honeydew and sooty mold on citrus and rubber trees, non-damaging to citrus but an export quarantine concern.
Lotilaner
Lotilaner (Credelio, XDEMVY) is an isoxazoline antiparasitic inhibiting arthropod GABA-gated chloride channels; used monthly in dogs and cats against fleas and ticks and as 0.25% eye drops for Demodex blepharitis.
Lyme disease
Lyme disease, Borrelia burgdorferi infection spread by blacklegged ticks, first identified in Lyme, Connecticut in 1975; agent discovered 1981. Diagnosed by two-tier serology, treated with antibiotics; ~476,000 US cases yearly.
Macrochelidae
Macrochelidae is a cosmopolitan family of over 470 predatory mesostigmatid mite species in 21 genera, typified by Macrocheles, living in dung and manure, dispersing by phoresy on dung beetles, and used against house flies.
Macronyssidae
Macronyssidae (Oudemans, 1936) is a family of over 230 blood-feeding mesostigmatid mite species in 35 genera, including the northern fowl mite Ornithonyssus sylviarum, tropical fowl mite O. bursa, and tropical rat mite O. bacoti, parasites of birds, rodents, and bats that also bite humans.
Mesostigmata
Mesostigmata: an order of about 11,000 described parasitiform mites (mesostigmatans), mostly free-living soil predators, also including bee parasites like Varroa, vertebrate parasites, and biocontrol predators such as Phytoseiidae and Laelapidae.
Mite
Mite (Acari): tiny arachnids related to spiders and ticks, 0.1-30 mm long, with over 48,000 described species in two lineages, Acariformes and Parasitiformes, feeding as predators, plant pests, parasites, and decomposers.
Mites affecting humans
Mites affecting humans are small arachnids, from the burrowing scabies mite to house dust and storage mites, that cause itchy skin, asthma, and diseases such as scrub typhus.
Mold mites
Mold mites are small pale mites, chiefly Tyrophagus species, that feed on mold in damp homes and stored foods, multiplying rapidly above 65% relative humidity.
Notoedric mange
Notoedric mange, also called feline scabies, is a highly contagious, severely itchy skin disease of cats caused by the burrowing mite Notoedres cati (Sarcoptidae), treatable with selamectin, moxidectin, ivermectin, or lime sulfur, and transiently zoonotic; related mites cause fatal mange in squirrels.
Oribatida
Oribatida (beetle mites, oribatid mites), a suborder of soil-dwelling sarcoptiform mites with over 11,000 described species, rigid exoskeletons, slow life histories, and wide use as bioindicators of soil health and pollution.
Ornithodoros
Ornithodoros (relapsing fever ticks), genus Koch 1837 of softbacked Argasidae ticks, type species O. savignyi; vectors Borrelia relapsing fever and African swine fever virus; ~113 species, historically paraphyletic.
Ornithodoros moubata
Ornithodoros moubata, the eyeless tampan (Argas moubata, Murray 1877), is an East and southern African soft tick that rapidly feeds on warthogs and humans, vectors Borrelia duttonii relapsing fever and African swine fever virus, and produces the complement inhibitor OmCI.
Ornithodoros savignyi
Ornithodoros savignyi, the sand tampan, is an eyed African and Asian soft tick (Argasidae) that feeds rapidly on livestock, causes lethal cardiac sand tampan toxicosis via TSGP toxins, and vectors Candidatus Borrelia kalaharica.
Ornithonyssus
Ornithonyssus is a genus of Macronyssidae blood-feeding mites including the northern fowl mite (O. sylviarum), tropical fowl mite (O. bursa), and tropical rat mite (O. bacoti), permanent ectoparasites of birds and rodents with 5-12 day life cycles.
Ornithonyssus sylviarum
Ornithonyssus sylviarum, the northern fowl mite (Macronyssidae), is a permanent blood-feeding ectoparasite of birds and the main poultry mite pest in North America, completing its 5-12 day life cycle on the host and reducing egg production.