An efficient in vivo feeding method for poultry red mites, Dermanyssus gallinae (Acari: Dermanyssidae)

Dermanyssus gallinae (D. gallinae), the poultry red mite (PRM), is a haematophagous pest infesting poultry and wild birds. In studies of the biology of D. gallinae and the development of vaccines and systemic acaricides against the mites, it is often necessary to feed the mites under laboratory conditions. Although several feeding methods have been developed, however, some defects exist in these methods, such as low engorgement rate, low oviposition of mites, and difficulty in mite recovery after feeding. In this study, we developed an in vivo feeding method for D. gallinae based on a feeding device consisting of a fixing device and a feeding-storage device, which made the introduction and recovery of mites convenient, and provided protection of the mites during feeding. Under optimized conditions, the mean engorgement rate for adult female mites, protonymphs, and deutonymphs were 86.80 ± 6.57 %, 50.80 ± 12.85 %, and 62.8 ± 7.82 %, respectively. The average oviposition rate was 98.5 ± 1.38 %, with an average of 5.35 ± 0.41 eggs per mite, and an egg hatching rate of 98.92 ± 0.45 %. Additionally, the mean molting rate for protonymphs and deutonymphs fed with the device, were 97.68 % ± 3.18 % and 92.57 % ± 3.78 %, respectively. The whole life cycle of the mites could be completed with this method. The highly reliable feeding method established in this research exhibits potential application in the biological research of D. gallinae as well as in the development of novel control methods.