Non-biting midges as hosts for water mite larvae in spring habitats in Luxembourg

¹ Museum of Natural History and Archaeology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, NO-7491 Trondheim, Norway.
² Christian-Albrechts-Universität, Zoologisches Institut (Department of Animal Ecology), Olshausenstr. 40, D-24098 Kiel, Germany.

Corresponding author: Elisabeth.Stur@vm.ntnu.no

Abstract

This study focuses on the host-parasite relationships between species of non-biting midges (Diptera: Chironomidae) and water mites (Acari: Hydrachnidia) in seven springs in Luxembourg. Emergence traps were operated through the season, and identification of the catches enabled an overview of species composition, abundance and host-parasite associations in the spring communities. Our results show that the Luxembourg springs have similar chironomid diversity to other springs in Europe, and that particular species are more often found in certain spring habitats. Furthermore, we show that prevalence of water mite parasitism is highly variable among the sampled chironomid hosts, and that there are several species which were not parasitized despite being numerous in our samples. The reasons for the latter observation are discussed, and most of the cases can be explained by general unavailability of host or parasite, or life cycle incompatibility.