Behavioural studies on eriophyoid mites: an overview Katarzyna Michalska Æ Anna Skoracka Æ Denise Navia Æ James W. Amrine Received: 29 March 2009 / Accepted: 11 September 2009 / Published online: 25 September 2009 Ó Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2009 Abstract Eriophyoid mites are excellent candidates for ethological research using the approaches of behavioural ecology and sociobiology. These tiny haplodiploid mites are highly specialized plant parasites, producing galls, forming nests, inhabiting refuges or living freely on plants. They reproduce via spermatophores deposited on a substrate and without pairing, which is a fascinating, though still poorly understood, mode of repro- duction widespread in some groups of arthropods. Eriophyoid males can be involved in external sperm competition. In some species they also guard pre-emergent females and deposit spermatophores beside them. Although slow-walking, the minute eriophyoid mites can disperse for long distances on air currents or specific animal carriers. After landing on a plant they can distinguish between suitable and unsuitable hosts. Biological observations on a deuterogynous species indicate that parasociality could occur among eriophyoid mites. Many eriophyoids are of economic importance. Knowledge of their behaviour may promote understanding their ecology, may resolve problems in their phylogeny and may help developing methods for their control. In this paper, attention is directed to dispersal modes of eriophyoid mites, their feeding and host acceptance, spermatophore deposition and mating, defence against predators, and social behaviour. K. Michalska (&) Department of Applied Entomology, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Nowoursynowska 159, 02-776 Warsaw, Poland e-mail: katarzyna_michalska@sggw.pl A. Skoracka Department of Animal Taxonomy and Ecology, Institute of Environmental Biology, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Umultowska 89, 61-614 Poznan ´, Poland D. Navia Laboratory of Plant Quarantine, Embrapa Genetic Resources and Biotechnology, CP 02372, Brası ´lia, DF 70.770-900, Brazil J. W. Amrine West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, USA 123 Exp Appl Acarol (2010) 51:31–59 DOI 10.1007/s10493-009-9319-2