Mite fauna of German farms

Allergy. 1997 Dec;52(12):1233-7. doi: 10.1111/j.1398-9995.1997.tb02529.x.

Abstract

Storage mites are important sources of airborne allergens, especially on farms. A mite survey was conducted in the working environments of 121 farms in five regions of Germany. Of 859 samples, 743 (86.4%) contained mites, representing 547,857 astigmatic mites in 723 g of dust and 34,501 prostigmatic mites in 469 g of dust. Dust samples from nine sites of each farm were collected and analyzed. Ninety-three percent of all mites belonged to the order Astigmata (storage- and house-dust-mite species); 35 Astigmata and 14 Prostigmata mite species were identified. According to the abundance and steadiness of the important astigmatic mite species, the following order was found: Lepidoglyphus destructor > Glycyphagus domesticus > Acarus siro > Tyrophagus longior > Blomia tjibodas > Chortoglyphus arcuatus > Thyreophagus entomophagus > Tyrophagus putrescentiae > Euroglyphus longior > Tyrophagus palmarum > Acarus farris > Acarus immobilis > Gohieria fusca. Blomia tjibodas was described for the first time as an abundant species of farms in Germany.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Agriculture*
  • Animals
  • Germany
  • Mites / classification*