A Study on the Occurrence, Prevalence and Species Composition of Mite Fauna in Human Dwellings of Patiala City, Punjab (india)

House dust mites are of immense importance to human beings because of their positive role in causing various kinds of allergenic manifestations such as: allergic rhinitis, asthma, dermatitis and conjunctivitis as reported from different regions of the globe including India. The study was carried out in August 2012 to September 2013. During this period 200 dust samples collected from the human dwellings of Patiala City, Punjab (India) were examined for the presence of mites, especially for allergenic taxa. Mites were extracted using the Berlese method and preserved in 70% ethanol. For identification mites were mounted in Hoyer’s medium on microscope slides. Mites were found in 176 of 200 samples analyzed (88%). A total of 12,252 mites were collected, from which 3052 (24.91%) mites were found in samples collected during summer season i.e. CCL-I, 8352 (68.16%) mites were found in samples collected during rainy season i.e. CCL-II and only 848 (6.92%) mites were found in samples collected during winter season i.e. CCL-III. A total of 14 species belonging to 11 genera, 7 families and 3 orders have been identified. Of these 14 species, 9 species were of astigmatic mites belonging to 4 families i.e. Acaridae, Saproglyphidae, Glycyphagidae, and Pyroglyphidae. The remaining 5 species were from family Cheyletidae, Spleaeorhynchidae and Ascidae. Generally, the allergenic mites belonging to Astigmata were found in maximum number in all the infested samples. Among them Blomia tropicalis was predominant species followed by Dermatophagoides farinae.