Table of Contents

1 What Are Mites? 1.1 Brief Systematic Overview of Acari 1.2 Peculiarities of Mites for Ecological and Evolutionary Studies 2 Plant Mites 2.1 Spider Mites and Plants 2.2 Life History and Host Plants 2.3 Life Type Diversity in Spider Mites What Is a Life Type? Supposed Function of LW and CW Life Types 2.4 Diversity of Physiological Adaptation in Spider Mites Variation in Overwintering Stage Diapause 2.5 Diversity of Plant Mites Other Than Spider Mites Phytoseiids Predators Other Than Phytoseiids 3 Diverse Microcosmos on Sasa 3.1 Diversity in Sasa-Inhabiting Mites 3.2 Is the Flattened Body an Antipredator Strategy? 3.3 Do Oviposition and Undergoing Quiescence on Tips of Leaf Hairs Constitute Antipredatory Behaviors? 3.4 Do Compartment-Type Nests Have Antipredator Functions? 3.5 Woven Nests of Stigmaeopsis What Is Stigmaeopsis? Is Nest Size Variation a Refl ection of Antipredator Strategy? Advantages of Small Nests Additional Advantages of Small Nests Why Are There Large Nest Builders? Disruptive Selection on Nest Size? A Further Question 3.6 Explanation of Diversity in Life Type and Life History Variation on Sasa 3.7 Other Variation in Spider Mites on Sasa 4 Mite Sociality 4.1 Diversity in Genetic System 4.2 Sexual Behavior 4.3 Sex Ratio 4.4 Sociality in Stigmaeopsis 4.5 Sociality in Spider Mites 4.6 Overview of Mite Sociality 4.7 Background of Social Evolution in Mites 5 Inbreeding Depression in Haplo-diploidy 6 Kin Selection 6.1 Variation in Male Aggressiveness Between Species 6.2 Variation in Male Aggressiveness Within a Species 6.3 Egoism and Cooperation 6.4 Two Groups Showing Different Levels of Male Aggressiveness Why Are There Two Groups Showing Different Clinal Trends? 6.5 Sexual Selection 6.6 Theoretical Explanation of Male Aggression and Cooperation Absolute Conditions for Cooperation Mixed Strategy of Aggression and Cooperation Fitting Practical Data to the Model Thought Exercise 7 Is Basic Science the Father of Applied Science? 7.1 What Has Happened in Chinese Bamboo Forests? Plausible Factors for Pest Outbreaks Approaching a Factor 7.2 Simulation of One-Predator?Two-Prey Systems 7.3 Epilogue: Japanese Sato-yama 8 Further Research for Mite Behavioral and Evolutionary Ecology Afterword Appendices Appendix 1. Brief History of Reinstatement of Stigmaeopsis Appendix 2. Model of Repeated Blind Sampling Appendix 3. Calculation of Practical Parameters in Game Model References Index

Reviews

From the reviews: "Saito's book should be of appeal to students learning about and researchers working on animal behavior and behavioral ecology, especially those interested in the evolution of cooperative behaviors and social organization. It may also be of interest to researchers working in pest management ... . Saito's book gives a fascinating glimpse of how wonderful the life of mites can be and should stimulate many of its readers to focus in their research on mites and pick up and dive into topics related to behavioral ecology." (Peter Schausberger, Experimental and Applied Acarology, Vol. 52, October, 2010)