Oviposition by selected water mite (Hydrachnidia) species from Lake Skadar and its catchment
2016
Bańkowska, Aleksandra | Kłosowska, Magdalena | Gadawski, Piotr | Michoński, Grzegorz | Grabowski, Michał | Pešić, Vladimir | Zawal, Andrzej
Research on water mites has mainly focused on their ecology, taxonomy and faunistics. Studies on the biology of particular species and their fecundity have been conducted much less often, and there is very little such information from the Balkan Peninsula. The present study attempts to fill in some of the gaps in the existing knowledge upon reproduction of water mites. Female individuals were collected from Lake Skadar and its catchment in Montenegro, in May and October 2014. Then they were placed in 40 ml beakers until eggs were laid and observed until the larvae were hatched. The eggs were laid by females representing 15 species. The numbers of egg-laying females of a given species ranged from 1 to 124. The average number of eggs laid by a female ranged from 1 to 60. The number of eggs laid in May was much higher than in October. Females which lays the most eggs (representing 9 species) were collected in springs, followed by Lake Skadar (7 species) and in rivers (4 species). Only one species, Hygrobates setosus, was encountered in all types of waters studied, two species were encountered in the lake and in springs (Lebertia ineaqualis and Piona disparilis), and one (Hygrobates fluviatilis) in springs and in rivers. In general, the highest numbers of eggs were laid by females from rivers, followed by those from springs and from the lake. The average time of embryonic development ranged from 9 days (Hydrochoreutes krameri) to 20 days (Atractides fonticulus and Protzia eximia), while the total incubation period ranged from 9 to 30 days. It seems that the water mites laid higher number of eggs in the spring than in the autumn. Hatching time depends on the temperature. The number of eggs laid by one female is characteristic of the species or genus.
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