Acarology

Acarology (from Ancient Greek ἀκαρί/ἄκαρι, akari, a type of mite; and -λογία, -logia) is the study of mites and ticks,^[1] the animals in the order Acarina. It is a subfield of arachnology, a subdiscipline of the field of zoology. A zoologist specializing in acarology is called an acarologist. Acarologists may also be parasitologists because many members of Acarina are parasitic. Many acarologists are studying around the world both professionally and as amateurs.^[2] The discipline is a developing science and research has been provided for it in more recent history.^[2]

The Acari are identified in acarology as a taxon of arachnids that contains mites and ticks. They are an example of something an acarologist would study.

Acarological organisations

• Laboratory of Medical Acarology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic
• Tick Research Laboratory, University of Rhode Island
• Tick Research Lab at Texas A&M University

Acarological societies

International

• International Congress of Acarology
• Societe Internationale des Acarologues de Langue Francaise
• Systematic and Applied Acarology Society

Regional

• Acarology Society of America
• Acarological Society of Iran
• Acarological Society of Japan
• African Acarology Association
• Egyptian Society of Acarology
• European Association of Acarologists

Notable acarologists

• Mercedes Delfinado
• Natalia Aleksandrovna Filippova
• Harry Hoogstraal

• James Allen McMurtry

• Pat Nuttall
• Maria V. Pospelova-Shtrom
• Ronald Vernon Southcott
• Jane Brotherton Walker
• Aleksei Zachvatkin

Journals

The leading scientific journals for acarology include:

• Acarologia
• Acarines
• Experimental and Applied Acarology
• International Journal of Acarology
• Systematic & Applied Acarology
• Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases
• Persian Journal of Acarology

See also

• Parasitology
• List of words ending in ology

References

1. D. E. Walter & H. C. Proctor (1999). Mites: Ecology, Evolution and Behaviour. University of NSW Press, Sydney and CABI, Wallingford. ISBN 978-0-86840-529-2.
2. Alberti, Gerd (2010). "A Manual of Acarology". Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research. 48 (2): 194–195. doi:10.1111/j.1439-0469.2009.00546.x.

Further reading

• Experimental and Applied Acarology, ISSN 1572-9702 (electronic), ISSN 0168-8162 (paper), Springer
• E. Baker (1952). An Introduction to Acarology. New York: The MacMillan Company.
• Gerald W. Krantz & D. E. Walter, ed. (2009). A Manual of Acarology (3rd ed.). Texas Tech University Press. ISBN 978-0-89672-620-8.

External links

• The dictionary definition of acarology at Wiktionary
• Learning materials related to acarology at Wikiversity