Contending with an ephemeral resource; transport strategies of phoretic mites in Wisconsin red pine stands

Mites associated with subcortical pine habitat are introduced through phoretic transport performed by wood-boring beetles. Most information on these mites arises from collections emphasizing a single host species. We are expanding on this to develop a community approach emphasizing interactions between mites and the guild of subcortical wood-boring beetles potentially available for phoresy. We are currently surveying phoretic mites on six species of wood-boring bark beetles, Dendroctonus valens, Ips pini, I. grandicollis, Platysoma cylindrical, Thanasimus dubius and Monochamus spp., inhabiting red pines in Wisconsin. These beetles were chosen for their frequent association with red pine stands in Wisconsin, different feeding guilds, and sequential but overlapping arrival and generation times. Preliminary data indicate a more similar phoretic mite community between I. pini and I. grandicollis than between T. dubious and either species. While we expect significant overlap in the species of phoretic mites occurring on all six beetle species, we expect several mite species to be more specialized. In particular we hypothesize that mite species that have specialized feeding habits will be more phoretically specialized than those with more general feeding habits. We are also investigating whether mites exploit chemical signals indicative of a departure time and phoretic host that relate to the changing condition and availability of food resources in their ephemeral habitat.