Analysis of Specificity of Associations Between Myrmecophilous Mites and their Host Species

Ants are widespread species of eusocial insects, and myrmecophily describes the species which are associated with ants. Many mites are myrmecophilous species and interact with hosts in many ways such as phoresis or parasitism. The relationship between ants and mites are interesting as parasitic species could be used to control the spread of invasive ant species. For this project, I reviewed the existing literature on myrmecophilous mites around the world and compiled a database of ant-mite associations, which I then used to characterize factors such as host specificity, attachment sites, and biogeographical patterns. This work demonstrates that existing research on myrmecophilous mites has been both geographically and taxonomically biased and highlights the need for much more comprehensive surveys of mites living in association with ants.