Examples may be found in the
arthropods associated with
sloths.
Coprophagous sloth moths, such as
Bradipodicola hahneli and
Cryptoses choloepi, are unusual in that they exclusively inhabit the fur of sloths, mammals found in
central and
South America. The sloth provides transport for the moths, the females of which
oviposit in the droppings of sloths, which the larvae feed on, and the newly hatched moths move into the forest canopy in search of a new sloth host. Larvae of the blister beetle (
Meloe franciscanus) need to find the nests of their host, the solitary bee (
Habropoda pallida), to continue their life cycle. The larvae gather in colonies, and emit chemicals that mimic the
pheromones of the female solitary bee
. Larvae attach to the attracted males when they visit the false source of pheromones, and then subsequently to any female the male mates with. The blister beetle larvae then infest and parasitize the female bee's nest. of the bee mite
Chaetodactylus krombeini shows distinct morphological adaptations for phoresy relative to other parts of its life cycle. Some
mites in the clade
Astigmatina have a stage of their life cycle (the
deutonymph or hypopus) that is modified specifically for phoresis. This stage has reduced mouthparts, a well-sclerotised body that resists
desiccation, and usually a posteroventral organ for attaching to the host animal (which may be an invertebrate or a vertebrate). Astigmatans often live in patchy and ephemeral habitats such as fungal fruiting bodies, dung, carrion, animal nests, tree sap flows and decaying wood. Phoresis allows these mites to quickly leave a depleted habitat and travel to a new one. A specific example is deutonymphs of
Lardoglyphus dispersing on beetles in the genus
Dermestes to reach new habitats (both phoront and host feed on animal materials). A specialist mite (
Parasitellus fucorum) that parasitizes bumble bees (
Bombus spp.) avoids
inbreeding depression in a single hive, and remains genetically independent of any specific host lineage by travelling to a new hive. This is accomplished by travelling on a foraging bee to a flower and detaching, and waiting for and attaching to another bee which may be from another hive, and infesting the new hive. These mites can survive on flowers for up to 24 hours, and have shown a preference for opened flowers, where they would be most likely to find a host. The pseudoscorpion
Cordylochernes scorpioides is frequently found riding
harlequin beetles (
Acrocinus longimanus). Initially, there were a number of alternate hypothesis for why the
pseudoscorpions were found on the beetles: by accident, to forage for mites inhabiting the beetle, or as an
obligate parasite. Evidence suggested, however, that the pseudoscorpions were using beetles to travel from tree to tree, where they preyed upon other beetle larvae. The largest mammalian example of phoresis is human beings directly riding on
horses or other animals, or using them to pull vehicles with humans in them. == See also ==