Anzeiger für Schädlingskunde, Pflanzenschutz, Umweltschutz (1991) 64, 55-60

H.Z. Levinson, A.R. Levinson and K. Müller (1991)
Functional adaptation of two nitrogenous waste products in evoking attraction and aggregation of flour mites (Acarus siro L.)
Anzeiger für Schädlingskunde, Pflanzenschutz, Umweltschutz 64 (3), 55-60
Abstract: Populations of the flour mite Acarus siro L. (Acaridae, Astigmata) usually occur in biocoenotic association with a fungal microflora comprising mainly Acremonium strictum, Aspergillus candidus, Penicillium chrysogenum and Saccharomyces cerevesiae on stored cereals at high relative humidities. The flour mites excrete their nitrogenous waste mainly as guanine, while the fungi produce ammonia as one of their terminal metabolites. Both end-products of nitrogen metabolism must have acquired, early in the course of evolution, the rôle of intra- and interspecific signals: guanine (2-amino-6-hydroxypurine) functions as an assembly pheromone, while ammonia acts as a kairomone being attractive to both sexes of flour mites, particularly before mating. Both chemical signals communicate to flour mites the availability of a nutritious diet and the presence of conspecifics, whereby aggregation, mate finding and reproduction of this species are ensured.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
pheromones/attractants/traps
general biology - morphology - evolution

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Acarus siro