Workshop Descriptions
INTRODUCTORY ACAROLOGY
This one-week workshop will present an overview of the identification, systematics and biology of the major groups of Acari. A second emphasis will be on the techniques (study, collection, preservation) used in acarology. The course is designed as either a stand-alone course or as an introduction for the novice to prepare for the other, more specialized, workshops (Klompen).
AGRICULTURAL ACAROLOGY
This workshop will review the mites associated with crops, ornamental plants and stored products. The major emphasis will be on identification and classification, with a secondary emphasis on ecology (Sabelis) and biocontrol (James). Specifically discussed groups will be on the Phytoseiidae (De Moraes), Tetranychoidea and Tydeoidea (Welbourn), Tarsonemida (Ochoa), Eriophyoidea (Amrine) and stored product mites (OConnor).
MEDICAL - VETERINARY ACAROLOGY
This two-week workshop will review the various Acari associated with humans and domestic animals. One week will concentrate on ticks (Ixodida) (Beati, Klompen, Needham), while the remaining time will be on all the other groups of mites. In addition to the standard emphasis of identification, "tick week" will include extensive discussions of disease transmission. The "mite week" will include discussions of various Mesostigmata and Astigmata (OConnor), including feather mites and dust mites (Needham), Trombiculoidea (chiggers) (Welbourn), and miscellaneous Prostigmata (Klompen).
SOIL ACAROLOGY
This three-week workshop will concentrate on the Acari associated with soil and litter. Week one will be devoted to Mesostigmata and Endeostigmata (Beaulieu, Walter), the second week on Oribatida (Behan-Pelletier, Norton) and the third week on Prostigmata (Ochoa, Welbourn). The main emphasis will be on identification and systematics of both adults and immatures, but this course will have a strong secondary emphasis on ecology and life-history.