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Association between mites and leaf domatia: evidence from Bangladesh, South Asia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

Shelley A. Rozario
Shelley A. Rozario
Affiliation:
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Monash University, Clayton, 3168, Australia
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Abstract

Mites use the leaf domatia of many woody plant species in Australasia and North America. Different types of leaf domatia, including pits, pockets and tuft domatia, are present among plant species in disturbed forests, plantations and gardens of Bangladesh in South Asia. These structures are frequently occupied by mites. Pooling across all species, domatia were often (66%) occupied by mites and used by them for shelter, egg-laying and development. On average, 70% of all mites on leaves were found in domatia, and over three-quarters of these were potentially beneficial (i.e. of predaceous or microbivorous taxa) to the plant. Further, when species were pooled across sites, leaves of domatia-bearing plants had significantly more predaceous mites than those of plants without domatia. These results are consistent with the patterns of mite-domatia association reported in Australasia, North America and North Asia and with predictions of mutualism between plants and mites.

Keywords

BangladeshdomatialeavesmitesmutualismplantSouth Asia
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 11 , Issue 1 , February 1995 , pp. 99 - 108
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995

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