Summary
At. 75 and 80% relative humidity (RH), on a wheat germ flake medium, Aspergillus penicilloides grew abundantly and suppressed the population growth of Dermatophagoides pteronyssiunus. At 71% RH, A. penicilloides grew moderately and was only antagonistic to D. pteronyssinus when the fungus was previously incubated on the medium.
On a human dander medium and on mattress dust, A. penicilloides grew moderately at 71% and 75% RH and stimulated the development of D. pteronyssinus populations. Also a moderate growth of Eurotium repens on human dander positively influenced D. pteronyssinus. Wallemia sebi and Penicillium brevicompactum grew slightly or did not grow at all at 75% RH. No effect was observed on D. pteronyssinus.
It appears that xerophilic fungi may stimulate, and occasionally may reduce, the growth of house-dust mite populations in the natural environment.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Baker, E.W., Wharton, G.W.: An introduction to acarology, pp. 465. New York: MacMillan 1952
Bronswijk, J.E.M.H. v.: Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus (Trouessart 1897) in mattress and floor dust in a temperate climate (Acari: Pyroglyphidae). J. Med. Entomol. 10, 63–70 (1973)
Bronswijk, J.E.M.H. v., Saint Georges-Gridelet, D. de, Lustgraaf, B.v.d.: An evaluation of biological methods in house-dust analysis. Allergie u. Immunol. (1978, in press)
Bronswijk, J.E.M.H. v., Sinha, R.N.: Role of fungi in the survival of Dermatophagoides (Acarina: Pyroglyphidae) in house-dust environment. Environm. Entomol. 2, 142–145 (1973)
Carruthers, C.: Biochemistry of skin in health and disease, pp. 263. Springfield, Illinois: Thomas 1962
Griffiths, D.A., Hodson, A.C., Christensen, C.M.: Grain storage fungi associated with mites. J. Econ. Entomol. 52, 514–518 (1959)
Lustgraaf, B. v.d.: Xerophilic fungi in mattress dust. Mykosen 20, 101–106 (1977)
Lustgraaf, B. v.d.: Seasonal abundance of xerophilic fungi and house-dust mites (Acarida: Pyroglyphidae) in mattress dust. Unpublished
Lustgraaf, B. v.d., Bronswijk, J.E.M.H. v.: Fungi living in house dust. Ann. Allergy 39, 152 (1977)
Lustgraaf, B. v.d., Jorde, W.: Pyroglyphid mites, xerophilic fungi and allergenic activity of dust from hospital mattresses. Acta Allergol 32, 406–412 (1977)
Marples, M.J.: The ecology of the human skin, pp. 970. Springfield, Illinois. Thomas 1965
Matsumoto, K.: Studies on the environmental requirement for breeding the dust mite Dermatophagoides farinae Hughes 1961. Part 3. Effect of the lipids in the diet on the population growth of the mites. Jap. J. Sanitary Zool. 26, 121–127 (1975)
Parkinson, D., Gray, T.R.G., Williams, S.T.: Methods for studying the ecology of soil micro-organisms, pp. 116. Oxford-Edinburgh: Blackwell 1971
Sauer, D.B., Christensen, C.M.: Some factors affecting increase in fat acidity values in corn. Phytopathology 59, 108–110 (1969)
Siegel, S.: Nonparametric statistics for the behavioral sciences, pp. 312. Tokyo: McGraw-Hill Kogakusha 1956
Solomon, M.E., Hill, S.T., Cunnington, A.M., Ayerst, G.: Storage fungi antagonistic to the flour mite (Acarus siro L.). J. Appl. Ecol. 1, 119–125 (1964)
Voorhorst, R., Spieksma, F.Th.M., Varekamp, H.: House-dust atopy and the house-dust mite Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus, pp. 159. Leiden: Stafleu 1969
Winston, P.W., Bates, D.H.: Saturated solutions for the control of humidity in biological research. Ecology 41, 232–237 (1960)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Lustgraaf, B.v.d. Ecological relationships between xerophilic fungi and house-dust mites (Acarida: Pyroglyphidae). Oecologia 33, 351–359 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00348118
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00348118