MORPHOLOGICAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN SYMPATRIC POPULATIONS OF THE POECILOCHIRUS-CARABI COMPLEX (ACARI, MESOSTIGMATA, PARASITIDAE) ASSOCIATED WITH BURYING BEETLES (SILPHIDAE, NICROPHORUS)

Adults of two sympatric populations of the parasitid mite Poecilochiru s carabi G. & R. Canestrini, one preferring Nicrophorus vespillo (Linn aeus) as carrier beetle species and the other N. vespilloides Herbst, could be separated by differences in the form of the structures associ ated with the male genital orifice and the size of the female endogynu m. Adults and deuteronymphs of the two populations also differed in th e size of idiosomal shields and dorsal setae. On the basis of these fi ndings, plus data from a literature review and an examination of type- material, the preference type choosing N. vespilloides was identified as P. carabi (sensu stricto) and that preferring N. vespillo as P. nec rophori Vitzthum, a species previously synonymised with P. carabi.