Mite–termite interaction: does termite mortality mediate mite density?

It has been claimed that termitophile astigmatid mites reach large population sizes in weak termite colonies, but it is still unclear if the mites are the cause of the colony weakness or if they take some advantage of it. This study addresses this question by evaluating the size of the mite Australhypopus sp. population in colonies of the termite Cornitermes cumulans in the laboratory for 15 days. We tested whether mite population growth is dependent on termite mortality, in addition to making observations about the mite life cycle and its relationship with the termite host. Our results suggest that Australhypopus sp. does not decrease the mean lifetime of the hosts, although they depend on the death of the termite to complete their developmental cycle. These results indicate that termite mortality favors the increase of Australhypopus sp. population, perhaps because this mite feeds on termite corpses to complete its life cycle.