MOSCOW, May 22.Tyumen State University scientists have discovered and described a new species of herbivorous ticks, atypical for Russia. Individuals of the open species were the first discovered representatives of the Linotetranidae family on the territory of our country and the northernmost ones in Eurasia. The results of the study were published in the journal Acarologia.
Researchers at the Tyumen State University (Tyumen State University) note that many herbivorous tick species are serious pests of crops, especially in greenhouse conditions.
Of particular danger to plants are the so-called spider mites, which are well known to people who are fond of gardening. They got their name because of their ability to weave a dense web on the surface of plant leaves, which is a refuge for mites and protection from predators.
Scientists noted that often spider mites can also infect home plants on window sills, getting into apartments along with an infected plant brought in. These arthropods are equipped with a special mouth apparatus in the form of paired long stylets, which allows them to easily penetrate the leaf and suck out the juices of the plant. Rapidly multiplying, they destroy leaves and stems, thereby reducing the possibility of photosynthesis. This noticeably weakens the plant and eventually leads to its death.
Researchers have noticed that spider mites and their closest relatives — flatworm mites — have been actively studied in Russia and the countries of the former USSR, several monographs have been devoted to them.
Among the closest relatives of spider mites is the object of study of the scientific team — mites of the Linotetranidae family. According to experts, this family is very small and includes only four genera and 19 species. Linotetranids are found on all continents except Antarctica, but most species live in warm climates. They are found, for example, in Italy, Turkey and Iran.
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"Linotetranids prefer to settle in the subsoil layer, on herbaceous plants growing in arid regions. Many species settle underground, feeding on the roots of grasses. Unlike spider mites, they do not secrete cobwebs. They do not cause any significant harm to plants,” explained Alexander Khaustov, a leading researcher at the X-Bio Institute of Tyumen State University. jpg» media-type=»photo» data-crop-ratio=»0.739453125″ data-crop-width=»600″ data-crop-height=»444″ data-source-sid=»» class=»lazyload» lazy =»1″ />
He said that during research in Western Siberia, many females of a species new to science were found, which they called Linotetranus sibiriensis (Siberian linotetranus). This species was found in the soil, under herbaceous plants, in the dry steppe in the Kurgan region.
«This is the first finding of linotetranids in Russia and the northernmost in Eurasia. Most likely, this species feeds on plant roots. Ticks have microscopically small sizes — their body length is slightly more than 300 microns. This is less than half a millimeter,» Khaustov specified.
This study was carried out as part of the project «Little-studied and taxonomically complex groups of ticks — a bioindicatively significant component of soil biota for assessing climate change» in accordance with the state task of the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia.
Tyumen State University is a participant of the state program of strategic academic leadership «Priority-2030».