Association between neotropical burrowing spiders (araneae: nemesiidae) and mites (acari: heterostigmata, scutacaridae)

Abstract

Whilst collecting burrowing spiders of the family Nemesiidae from 16 localities in Argentina, phoretic mites were found on Stenoterommata iguazu, Stenoterommata platense and Stenoterommata uruguai. These mites are described here: Scutacarus (S.) araneophilus n. sp. and Scutacarus (S.) adgregatus n. sp. Assocations between spiders and scutacarids were not previouly known. Aspects of the biology of the spiders and the interactions between mites and spiders are reported and discussed.Durante colectas de arafias cavadoras de la familia Nemesiidae en I 6 localidades de Argentina, se encontraron acaros foreticos sobre Stenoterommata iguazu, S. platense, and S. uruguai. Se describe aqui a estos acaros, como Scutacarus ( S.) araneophilus n. sp. and Scutacarus ( S.) adgregatus n.sp. Ninguna asociaci6n entre arafias y escutacaridos se conocia previamente. Se discute la interacci6n entre Ios acaros y las arafias, tomando en cuenta Ios datos conocidos de la biologia de ambos.