Phoretic uropodid mites (Acarina: Uropodidae) on the red palm weevil [Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Oliver, 1790) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)]

Phoretic mites (Acarina: Mesostigmata: Uropodidae) were identified on the red palm weevil (RPW), [(Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Oliver, 1790) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)] collected from the aggregation pheromone traps and the dead Canary Island date palms, Phoenix canariensis Hort. in Adana province, Turkey in 2008. Two phoretic uropodid species, Uropoda orbicularis (Muller, 1776) and Uroobovella marginata (Koch, 1839) (Acarina: Uropodidae) were recorded for the first time on the RPW in Turkey. The uropodid mites were found mainly beneath the first wings of the adult weevils. They were also observed on dead larval and pupa stages of the RPW. The majority of the adult weevils, collected from the traps in the period may-june and date palm trees in february, carried the high numbers of uropodid mites. Mean total numbers of the total mites on the pheromone traps for the period of may-june were 213.02 (max. 698) on per adult female and 188.85 (max. 653) per adult male. Mean total numbers of mites in the date palm trees in february were 346.70 (max. 668) per adult female and 283.10 (max. 644) per adult male in date palms. RPW, found inside the cocoons in the date palms, were infested with the great numbers (400-600) of the mites. Total numbers of the total uropodid mites on the larval and pupal stage of RPW varied from 0 to 50. Densities of the phoretic mites attached to the adult females and males collected from the trap and palm tree samplings were usually similar throughout the sampling periods. The uropodids exhibited typically phoretic behavior on the RPW individuals. They may have hampered partly the flight behaviors of the weevils, particularly in the spring in Adana province.