Tyrophagus putrescentiae mites grown in dog food cultures and the effect mould growth has on mite survival and reproduction.

The purposes of this study were to determine whether the storage mite, Tyrophagus putrescentiae, could survive and thrive on dog food and if mould growth was important to their survival. All of the chambers (n = 42) were started with 10 female mites and evaluated every other day for mite survival and for the spontaneous development of mould. Ten chambers tested the effect of low moisture on mite survival.

Ectoparasitic assemblages on mormoopid bats (Chiroptera: Mormoopidae) from Puerto Rico.

We performed the first quantitative survey of ectoparasitic assemblages on three species of mormoopid bats living on the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico: Mormoops blainvillii Leach (n=40), Pteronotus quadridens Gundlach (n=40), and Pteronotus parnellii Gray (n=9). We examined bats for parasites primarily on 8-10 May and 24-27 July 2002 at Culebrones Cave, near Arecibo, Puerto Rico. Only 50% of M.