Agricultural Library AN INTRODUCTORY STUDY OF THE ACARINA, OR MITES, OF OHIO OHIO Agricultural Experiment Station WOOSTER, OHIO, U. S. A., AUGUST, 1925 BULLETIN 386 The Bulletins of this Station are sent free to all residents of the State who request them. When a change of address is desired, both the old and the new address should be given. All correspondence should be addressed EXPERIMENT STATION, Wooster, Ohio to BULLETIN OF THE Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station NUMBER 386 AUGUST, 1925 AN INTRODUCTORY STUDY OF THE ACARINA, AUGUST E. MILLER INTRODUCTION In the animal kingdom few of the larger orders can be mentioned about which less is known than the Acarina, or, as they are popularly spoken of, the mites. The almost universal lack of knowledge of this group is undoubtedly explained by the minute size of its members, their obscure habits, and the comparatively few forms that are of economic importance. One group, the ticks, may as a whole be excepted from this general statement for its members are uniformly of large size, parasitic upon domestic and other animals, instrumental in the transmission of infectious diseases of man and animals, and accordingly of pronounced economic importance. Among the other larger groups of the order Acarina, but few species in each are generally known. These may consist of isolated species in the group, or perhaps of a genus or subfamily of but a few species, and these usually are of economic importance. Otherwise, descriptions, and these often most unsatisfactory, comprise the bulk of the literature dealing with this highly interesting group of animals. Linnaeus in his Systema Natura of 1758 lists several species of mites and appends exceedingly brief descriptions. As most foreign literature was not readily accessible to English students, we find that much of the early acarology of England and the United States was based upon the part of Murray's "Economic Entomology, Aptera" of 1877 treating with the Acarina. The individuals who have devoted a comparatively long period of time to an intensive study of the mites are few. The majority * Presented in partial fulfillment for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, in the department of Entomology and Zoology of the Ohio State University, June, 1925. (85) |