Survival, fecundity, and development of Dermatophagoides farinae (Acari: Pyroglyphidae) at fluctuating relative humidity.

We determined the survival, development, and fecundity of Dermatophagoides farinae Hughes exposed to fluctuating daily regimes of hydrating and dehydrating relative humidity. Larva emerged from 84, 92, and 94% of eggs incubated at a regime of 2, 4, and 8 h at 75% RH and 22, 20, and 16 h at 0% RH, respectively. No emerging offspring completed the life cycle when exposed to the 2 and 4 h of moist air daily but 44 and 53% survived for 70 d in the larval or nymphal stages, respectivley, and these completed development to adults when subsequently held at a constant 75% RH. Given 8 h of moist air daily, 41% of emerging offspring completed the life cycle but development was 1.6 times longer compared with development at a constant 75% RH. For all daily hydrating and dehydrating regimes, a greater percentage of offspring became males than females. Overall, survival of immatures was remarkable at these daily long periods of dehydrating conditions when a short period of hydrating moisture was provided. When exposed to a daily regime of 4 h of moist air (75% RH) and 20 h of dry air (0% RH), 84% of females survived 28 d and produced approximately 1/3 of the number of eggs produced at constant 75% RH (control).