Arthropod communities in a maritime Antarctic moss-turf habitat: Life history strategies of the prostigmatid mites

Fifteen sets of samples were collected from a moss-turf habitat on Signy Island, maritime Antarctica, between December 1980 and March 1982. A total of 27,612 Prostigmata, representing nine species, were extracted from these samples. Three of the taxa, Ereynetes macquariensis, Nanorchestes berryi and Eupodes spp. (mostly E. parvus , but also including E. exiguus and E. minutus ) were sufficiently abundant for analysis. It is inferred that the generation time of Ereynetes and Nanorchestes is two years, and of Eupodes is two to three years. A characteristic of Antarctic species is that generation times are in excess of one year, and that the life history strategies are flexible.