Archegozetes longisetosus
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| Archegozetes longisetosus | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Sarcoptiformes |
| Family: | Trhypochtoniidae |
| Genus: | Archegozetes |
| Species: | A. longisetosus |
| Binomial name | |
| Archegozetes longisetosus Aoki, 1965[1] | |
Archegozetes longisetosus is a species of tropical moss mite in the family Trhypochthoniidae. It has been used as a model organism and has been found to have a very high pulling strength relative to its size.
Mites in the suborder Desmonomata are thought to have been reproducing exclusively by parthenogenesis for a very long time. All individuals of Archegozetes longisetosus are female and clutches of two to thirty eggs are laid every few days with the reproductive rate averaging 1.3 eggs per day.[2][3] There are six developmental stages, a prelarval and a larval stage, three nymphal stages and an adult stage.[4]
Food
Oribatid mites differ from other chelicerate animals such as spiders by the fact that they feed on food particles which they digest internally rather than fluid food digested externally. In a feeding experiment, specimens of Archegozetes longisetosus were offered algae Protococcus sp. scraped from tree bark, two fungi, Stachybotrys sp. and Alternaria sp., and some filter papers made of cellulose-rich wood fibres. They fed preferentially on the algae and also consumed the Alternaria but rejected the Stachybotrys and the filter papers. After about ten days they started to secrete chitinase but did not develop cellulase enzymes to break down cellulose under any of the experimental treatments.[5]