Why are gamazid mites dangerous? Meet the Pest

Gamasid ticks are an infraorder of ticks. These are small (and sometimes microscopic) arthropods that inhabit the entire planet. They include over 6,000 species, representatives of which are often radically different from each other in size and lifestyle. At the same time, 2,000 of them belong to the family Phytoseiidae. Some of the gamasid ticks that live next to humans cause damage and are dangerous.

Insect description

All gamasid mites are very small arthropods. The length of individuals of the largest species reaches 3.5 mm, while most representatives of the infraorder are not distinguishable to the human eye. The body of ticks is usually oval in shape and is painted yellow or brown. Most of it is covered with chitinous cover that protects the creature.

4 pairs of paws are attached to the body of a gamasid tick, which are necessary for it to crawl. For nutrition, the pest has a special oral apparatus, characteristic of parasitic creatures: a kind of "proboscis" with sharp elements - chelicerae. These are mouth appendages, similar to claws, which serve to pierce the skin of the victim. The pedipalps located next to the chelicera are responsible for the sense of touch - a kind of tactile organs. Respiration occurs with the help of trachea, while the holes for air into the body are located on the sides of the tick body.

Among gamasid ticks there are very few parasites. Most species live in land, grass, silt, on trees, in crevices of buildings, etc. They do not harm a person in any way, and some have microscopic dimensions, so people simply do not notice them.

Food

Most gamasid ticks are omnivores or predators. For example, they are actively hunting small invertebrate animals, which they can easily cope with. Others destroy insect egg clutches, and the smallest representatives of the infraorder eat small microorganisms, for example, mold.

But a negligible fraction of the entire variety of species of gamasid mites learned to parasitism. They feed on the blood of large animals: mammals, birds, insects or reptiles.

Among ticks, 2 types of parasitism are distinguished:

1. Temporary. Saturated with blood, a gamasid tick leaves its body, and then searches for a new source of nutrition.
2. Permanent. The arthropod is constantly on the body of the victim or even inside the body. Here they not only have free access to an unlimited supply of blood, but also get warmed by the heat of their carrier. All this creates excellent conditions for active reproduction.

Gamasid mites have their own “taste preferences”. For example, Varroa destructor infects honey bees.

Breeding

For gamasid ticks, bisexual reproduction is characteristic. It happens in a rather interesting way: a male person secures a spermatophore (a kind of bag with sex cells) at the female’s opening with chelice claws. Soon, the female lays eggs.

Some species of gamasid ticks are capable of "virgin reproduction", or parthenogenesis. To lay eggs, the female does not have to be fertilized.In this case, viable larvae appear from the masonry.

Parthenogenesis is observed in arthropods, as well as ants, termites and plants. It is registered in 70 species of vertebrates. For example, in Komodo’s monitor lizards.

Among gamasid ticks there are also viviparous species. In them, egg development takes place in the female body. An arthropod appears either in the form of a larva or already a nymph. Due to the fact that the egg has large dimensions relative to the size of the body of the female, she is able to make only one at a time.

Developmental stages

The development of a hamase tick occurs in several stages:

1. An egg that has a round or oval shape.
2. Larva with 3 pairs of limbs. Does not need food.
3. Protonymph. She already has 4 pairs of limbs. Starting from this stage, the tick needs to be fed.
4. Deuteronymph. A hard torso appears in shades of yellow or brown.
5. Adult

The full cycle passes very quickly: it takes about 10 days. The life of an adult gamasid tick lasts up to 6–9 months.

Common species

The most significant for humans are large gamasid parasite mites that live on animals that live in houses or outbuildings.

Mouse tick

Mouse gamasid mites are quite large: their length is approximately 3 mm, so a person can notice them with the naked eye. The body has an oval or ovoid shape; and protected by chitinous cover from the back and abdomen. Coloring varies from pale gray to crimson: it depends on the degree of saturation of the parasite.

Representatives of the species live in mouse burrows and nests. Sometimes they attack a person. It is dangerous for people that during a bite, transmission of a pathogenic microorganism - smallpox rickettsiosis can occur. It causes tick-borne dermatitis, accompanied by redness and itching.

Rat

Rat mite is similar in appearance to mouse. He lives everywhere where there are rats: both in residential and in non-residential premises. Moreover, the tick does not always settle in rodent nests or in their vicinity. It is often found in homes: in bathrooms, in the gaps between the wall and baseboards, on furniture, etc. The tick especially likes the neighborhood with heating appliances and thermal communications.

This is a blood-sucking parasite that attacks not only rats, but also other rodents. Very rarely, he bites a person. It is a carrier of pathogens of serious diseases:

• tick-borne dermatitis;
• coxiellosis;
• hemorrhagic fever with kidney damage.

The rat tick is able to spread deadly viruses (encephalitis, West Nile fever, etc.) and bacteria (for example, plague bacillus).

After a bite, a person develops a severe itching and rash. After 2 weeks, it turns first into one red dot. Then - after about 18 hours - into the red-pink hearth, and after another 3 days - into the crimson bubble pronounced on the skin.

Chicken

The appearance of a chicken tick is similar to the two parasites described above. He only attacks wild and domestic birds. Typically, the pest is adjacent to the latter in farm buildings, because it maintains a favorable microclimate for the arthropod. It is a temporary parasite that chooses to eat mainly at night.

Representatives of the species inhabit the buildings in which birds live, mainly chicken coops. They penetrate through ventilation holes, crevices in walls, frames or door frames. In such ways, he can accidentally get into any home. Often the birds themselves bring it on feathers.

Chicken mites are found even in down-feather raw materials, if they were poorly processed at the factory.

If poultry was infected with a gamasid tick, then, together with an increase in the population size, egg production (from 20 to 70%) and weight gain will decrease. On a global scale, they can cause anemia. Arthropods also often creep into the respiratory organs, beak and auditory opening of birds.In humans, the saliva of a chicken gamase tick can cause an allergic reaction.

Gamasid mites practically do not threaten people living in cities. The exception is the proximity to rats and mice, therefore, to prevent bites, it is enough to fight rodents. And the number of ticks on the body of one animal or bird prey rarely becomes so large that the parasite went in search of human blood.