To investigate tarsonemid mite association with bees in China, we sampled both Apis mellifera and A. ceranain Fujian and Shanxi in April and May 2013. All 3600 bees were found negative for Acarapis woodi (Rennie 1921) but Pseudacarapis indoapis (Lindquist 1968)—new to China—was frequently discovered on both bee species, with female mites found individually inside the posterior tutorial pit of the bee. This is the second finding of this mite on A. mellifera; the first was in Egypt (Abou Senna 1997). P. indoapis was originally described from India (Lindquist 1968). It is known feeding on pollen and fungal debris in bee colonies (Sumangala 1999) and thus likely to be of minor economic importance.
Pseudacarapis contains only two species: P. indoapis and P. trispicula Ochoa & Pettis, 2003. Adult females of P. indoapis (Fig. 1) can be readily separated from P. trispicula by having an unbroken prosternal apodeme (ap pr) and having tarsal setae p” and tc′, but lacking lateral extension of apodeme 3 (ap 3).
