A STUDY OF THE MITE PARASITUS BOMBORUM 285
Figure 1. Life stages of the mite; for explanation see text.
provide a means of dispersing this mite species. There are other
possible methods of dispersal which will be considered later. It
seems possible that mites may be deposited into a flower head
during the foraging of the bee, and the mite may later be picked
up by another bee, or insect visitor. Mites have no eyes and are
not therefore able to detect the presence of a visiting bee by sight.
A possible means of host detection was suggested by the
activity of the mites when a dish containing them was accidently
breathed on. After deliberately repeating the situation I became
quite convinced that my breath was the cause of this agitated
behaviour. It seemed likely, therefore, that air currents set up
by the wings of a visiting bee might stimulate the mite to move
towards the bee whilst in the flower. In order to determinate
whether the warmth of my breath or the air currents caused the
observed behaviour, I carried out experiments using a hairdryer.
With it I blew unheated air over the mites and they again ex-
hibited the same excited behaviour.