Data from: Morphological variation in different populations of Aceria anthocoptes (Acari: Eriophyoidea) associated with the Canada thistle, Cirsium arvense, in Serbia

The russet mite, Aceria anthocoptes (Nal.), is the only eriophyid that has
been recorded on Canada thistle, Cirsium arvense (L.) Scop. It has been
noted in several European countries and recently in the USA. With its
apparent host specificity and because of the damage it causes to its host
plant, A. anthocoptes is being studied as a potential candidate for
classical biological control. The aim of the present study was to examine
quantitative morphological traits in four populations of A. anthocoptes
living on two infraspecific host plant taxa (C. arvense var. arvense and
C. arvense var. vestitum) in two geographically separate areas of Serbia
in order to test the hypothesis of absence of the possible host plant
impact on mite morphology. MANOVA analysis revealed significant
differences between populations from different localities in Serbia.
Populations of A. anthocoptes inhabiting two thistle varieties in the
vicinity of Belgrade differed significantly from mites inhabiting the same
two host varieties in the vicinity of the town of Ivanjica. Canonical
discriminant analysis showed that the trait which best discriminates the
populations of A. anthocoptes is the number of dorsal annuli. It was not
possible to ascribe morphological differences to the impact of the host
plant.