28 



THE LIFE HISTORY AND ECONOMY OF 

 THE CHEESE MITES. 



By NELLIE B. EALES, B.Sc. (Loud.). 

 {Zoologii Defarlment, University College, Reading.) 



The work on Cheese Mites, of which this paper gives a preHminary 

 report, was undertaken in the Zoology Department of University 

 College, Reading, at the suggestion of Dr R. Stenhouse Williams, of 

 the Dairy Research Listitute, and in collaboration with Mr A. Todd, 

 Manager of the British Dairy Institute, University College, Reading. 



The losses due to the depredations of cheese mites are very severe. 

 According to statistics obtained by Dr Williams, about 100,000 Stiltons 

 (the cheeses most affected) are made annually in this country. These 

 cheeses weigh on the average when ripe about 14 lbs., and before the 

 war sold at the rate of I*-, per lb. Estimating the average loss due to 

 cheese mites at 2\ % of the whole cheese (a not very excessive estimate) 

 and the labour involved in attending to the cheeses at 4id. per week for 

 each 100 cheeses for a period of 26 weeks, we obtain the following 

 figures : 



Value of 100,000 cheeses each weighing 14 lbs. at \s. per lb. £70,000 



Loss due to cheese mites 2| % £1,750 



Labour ^d. per week for each 100 cheeses for 26 weeks (approx.) £433 



Total loss £2,183 



With a view to minimising and if possible preventing this loss the 

 following work was done, aided by a research grant from the Board of 

 Agriculture and Fisheries. 



Systematic Position. 



The nearest relatives of the Mites are the Spiders and Ticks. In 

 these forms the body is incompletely divided into two, the fused head 

 and thorax and the abdomen. There are four pairs of legs in the adult 

 and two pairs of mouth parts, which are adapted for biting, piercing 

 or sucking. 



