Sarcoptiformes 335 



mal and vegetable matter. It appears to be cosmopolitan in distribution. 



Acariis siro Linneaus is a destructive cosmopolitan species found in 

 grain and flour, as well as in cheese, dried fruits, and vegetables. The 

 mite actually eats the grain, leaving only the husk. The male is easily 

 distinguished by a large, toothlike projection on femur i. 



Tyrophagiis longior (Gervais) is another well-known European 

 species and has been taken occasionally in America. Michael 1903 says 

 that an entire haystack in Ireland was practically destroyed by these 

 mites, and at times countless millions of them may be on hay and 

 fodder. It also infests foodstuffs. This mite has been found in human 

 feces, and their presence in the intestinal tract causes pain, nausea, 

 vomiting, and diarrhea. The mites are finally passed. The patient must 

 have a constant supply of mites on food or the symptoms disappear. 

 Oviposition and hatching take place in the intestine but the comple- 

 tion of the life cycle is doubtful. Hinman and Kampmeier 1934 also 

 report cases from literature of infestation of the urogenital system, 

 probably from contaminated catheters. 



Van den Bruel 1940 reports Tyrophagus dimidiatus (Hermann) 

 injuring spinach in unheated greenhouses in Belgium. The value of 

 the crop was reduced 80 per cent. Blades of the inner leaves were very 

 short, crumpled, and deformed. The petioles were normal. The epi- 

 dermis was at times perforated with small holes surrounded by a corky 

 tissue. The leaves finally turned black. The damage was attributed 

 to this mite which was present in large numbers and was brought in 

 on manure. Similar damage has been reported from spinach fields in 

 the eastern United States, the same mite species being present. 



Tyrophagus castellanii (Hirst) causes the "copra itch" of handlers 

 of that product. Sigrianskii 1940 also reports Tyrophagus castellanii 

 (Hirst) as feeding on spores of Tilletia tritici and transmitting these 

 spores to healthy wheat on their body and hairs. Mites that fed on 

 onions infected with Botrytis allii transmitted the spores to healthy 

 onions. They were also able to transmit a virus disease from infected 

 to healthy potatoes. 



A mite, Caloglyphus julidicolus Lawrence (hypopus), was taken on 

 the gonads of a South African millipede and is found only on the 

 males. Lawrence 1939 states that it must have entered through "the 

 narrow opening between the apices of the gonopods and their sur- 

 rounding membranous sheath, passing upward and slightly forward 

 for a distance of about 5 mm. before arriving at the final place of 

 attachment to the bases of the gonopods. The mites appear to have 



