Acarology

The Acari are identified in acarology as a taxon of arachnids that contains mites and ticks. They are an example of something an acarologist would study.

Acarology (from Ancient Greek ἀκαρί/ἄκαρι, akari, a type of mite; and -λογία, -logia) is the study of mites and ticks,^[1] the animals in the order Acarina. It is a subfield of arachnology, a subdiscipline of the field of zoology. A zoologist specializing in acarology is called an acarologist. Acarologists may also be parasitologists because many members of Acarina are parasitic. Many acarologists are studying around the world both professionally and as amateurs.^[2] The discipline is a developing science and research has been provided for it in more recent history.^[2]

Acarological organisations

• Laboratory of Medical Acarology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic
• Tick Research Laboratory, University of Rhode Island
• Tick Research Lab at Texas A&M University

Acarological societies

International

• International Congress of Acarology
• Societe Internationale des Acarologues de Langue Francaise
• Systematic and Applied Acarology Society
• Sociedad Latinoamericana de Acarologia

Regional

• Acarology Society of America
• Acarological Society of Iran
• Acarological Society of Japan
• African Acarology Association
• Egyptian Society of Acarology
• European Association of Acarologists

Notable acarologists

• Mercedes Delfinado, founded the Instituto Politécnico Nacional's Laboratory of Acrology, recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship.
• Edward W. Baker (1914-2005), Berlese Acarology Award, described as one of the two " fathers of modern acarology". USDA and Department Entomology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution^[3][4]
• George W. Wharton (25 January 1914- 4 April 1990), Professor Emeritus of Biological Sciences and Past Director, Acarology Laboratory, The Ohio State University, described as one of the two " fathers of modern acarology", Ohio State University, author "An Introduction to Acarology" with E.W. Baker, and "A Manual of Chiggers"with H.S. Fuller.^[5][6]
• Natalia Aleksandrovna Filippova, the ixodid tick Dermacentor filippovae Apanaskevich & Apanaskevich was named after her.
• Harry Hoogstraal, was described as "the greatest authority on ticks and tickborne diseases who ever lived."^[7] The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene's Harry Hoogstraal Medal for Outstanding Achievement in Medical Entomology^[8] honors his contributions to science. He has more than 20 species named after him
• Robert Lee Smiley (1929–2010) USDA and Department Entomology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, recognized by his work on parasitic and predatory of the mite families Cheyletidae and Cunaxidae.^[9]
• Pat Nuttall, professor of Arbo virology in the Department of Zoology of the University of Oxford.^[10]
• Maria V. Pospelova-Shtrom, discovered the Ryukyu Rabbit Tick
• Ronald Vernon Southcott, self-published a book 'Studies on incidences and correlations of diseases and immunizations in South Australian schoolchildren 1952–1962.
• Jane Brotherton Walker (31 January 1925 – 3 April 2009), in the field of tick taxonomy, particularly in Africa.^[11]
• Aleksei Zachvatkin, discovered hypermetamorphosis in the Meloidae and Bombyliidae, A number of mite genera are named in his honour including Zachvatkinia Dubinin, 1949 and Zachvatkinella Lange, 1954.^[12]
• Anita Hoffmann, founded the Instituto Politécnico Nacional's Laboratory of Acrology
• Maria Tonelli-Rondelli, studiedthe taxonomy and identification of ticks (Ixodidae), especially South American species^[13]
• James Allen McMurtry (1932-2017), Professor Emeritus and Entomologist at the University of California Riverside. World specialist on predatory mites. ^[14]
• John. C Moser (1929-2015), United States Forest Service entomologist and acarologist, pioneering research on mites associated with red imported fire ants. ^[15]
• Cecil Warburton, specialized in ticks of medical and veterinary importance.
• Roy A. Norton, Professor Emeritus State University of New York-College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse, New York ^[16]
• Barry OConnor, Professor Emeritus at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
• Ronald Ochoa, USDA- REE, research scientist at the Systematic Entomology Laboratory and curator of the National Mite Collection at the Smithsonian Institution.

Journals

The leading scientific journals for acarology include:

• Acarologia
• Acarines
• Experimental and Applied Acarology
• International Journal of Acarology
• Systematic & Applied Acarology
• Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases
• Persian Journal of Acarology

See also

• Parasitology
• List of words ending in ology

References

1. D. E. Walter & H. C. Proctor (1999). Mites: Ecology, Evolution and Behaviour. University of NSW Press, Sydney and CABI, Wallingford. ISBN 978-0-86840-529-2.
2. Alberti, Gerd (2010). "A Manual of Acarology". Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research. 48 (2): 194–195. doi:10.1111/j.1439-0469.2009.00546.x.
3. "Edward W. Baker (1914-2005)". Google Scholar.
4. Prasad, Vikram (1987). A decade of acarology. Indira. p. 23. ISBN 0930337034.
5. Fain, Alex; Bourdeux-Gorirossi, Flora. "Obituary George W. Wharton". Acarology.
6. Johnston, Donald E. (17 Mar 2009). "Obituary George W. Wharton". International Journal of Acarology. 16 (3): 117–118. doi:10.1080/01647959008683522.
7. Keirans, James E. (1987-03-01). "Harry Hoogstraal (1917–1986): A Bibliography". Journal of Medical Entomology. 24 (2): 121–140. doi:10.1093/jmedent/24.2.121. ISSN 1938-2928. PMID 3295240.
8. "ASTMH | Awards and Honors". 2010-10-04. Archived from the original on 2010-10-04. Retrieved 2025-03-08.
9. Prasad, Vikram (23 March 2010). "Obituary: Robert Lee Smiley". International Journal of Acarology. 36 (3): 273–278. doi:10.1080/01647954.2010.481264.
10. "Nuttall, Prof. Patricia Anne, (born 21 Jan. 1953), Professor of Arbovirology, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, since 2013; Fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford, 1974–77 and since 1990", Who's Who, Oxford University Press, 2007-12-01, doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u43921, retrieved 2025-03-08
11. Heinz, Franz X. (July 2020). "Obituary for Christian Kunz, 1927–2020". Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases. 11 (4) 101474. doi:10.1016/j.ttbdis.2020.101474. ISSN 1877-959X.
12. "Zachvatkin (Jasykov), Aleksei Alekseevich", SpringerReference, Berlin/Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag, 2011, doi:10.1007/springerreference_87493 (inactive 1 July 2025), retrieved 2025-03-08
13. Troyo, Adriana; González-Sequeira, María Paula; Aguirre-Salazar, Mónica; Cambronero-Ortíz, Ian; Chaves-González, Luis Enrique; Mejías-Alpízar, María José; Alvarado-Molina, Kendall; Calderón-Arguedas, Ólger; Rojas-Araya, Diana (2022-03-31). "Acknowledging extraordinary women in the history of medical entomology". Parasites & Vectors. 15 (1): 114. doi:10.1186/s13071-022-05234-6. ISSN 1756-3305. PMC 8969321. PMID 35361284.
14. de Moraes, Gilberto; Johnson, M.W. (2017). "James Allen McMurtry: an unforgettable man and professional, with a list of his publications". Acarologia. 57 (4): 1121–1129. doi:10.24349/acarologia/20174231.
15. Blomquist, Stacey R.; Mangini, Alex C. (2 June 2016). "Obituary: John Conrad Moser". American Entomologist. 62 (2): 2016. doi:10.1093/ae/tmw046.
16. Minor, Maria; Behan-Pelletier, Valerie (8 June 2022). "Professor Emeritus Roy A. Norton and his outstanding contributions to our knowledge of systematics, evolution, morphology, ecology and behaviour of Oribatida and other mites". Systematic and Applied Acarology. 27 (6): 1189–1206. doi:10.11158/saa.27.6.16.

Further reading

• Experimental and Applied Acarology, ISSN 1572-9702 (electronic), ISSN 0168-8162 (paper), Springer
• E. Baker (1952). An Introduction to Acarology. New York: The MacMillan Company.
• Gerald W. Krantz & D. E. Walter, ed. (2009). A Manual of Acarology (3rd ed.). Texas Tech University Press. ISBN 978-0-89672-620-8.

External links

• The dictionary definition of acarology at Wiktionary
• Learning materials related to acarology at Wikiversity