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.

锈螨（russet mite）*Aceria anthocoptes* (Nal.) 是目前唯一被记录于加拿大蓟（*Cirsium arvense* (L.) Scop.）上的瘿螨类群（eriophyid mite）。该螨已在多个欧洲国家被发现，近期在美国亦有报道。鉴于其明显的寄主专一性（host specificity）以及对寄主植物造成的为害，*A. anthocoptes* 正被研究作为经典生物防治（classical biological control）的潜在候选天敌。本研究旨在对塞尔维亚两个地理隔离区域内，取食两个种下寄主类群（*C. arvense* var. *arvense* 与 *C. arvense* var. *vestitum*）的4个*A. anthocoptes*种群的数量形态性状进行检测，以验证"寄主植物不会对螨类形态产生潜在影响"这一假说。多变量方差分析（Multivariate Analysis of Variance, MANOVA）结果显示，塞尔维亚不同采集地的螨种群间存在显著差异：贝尔格莱德周边取食两种蓟类寄主的*A. anthocoptes*种群，与伊万尼察镇周边取食相同两种寄主的螨种群差异显著。典型判别分析（Canonical discriminant analysis）表明，对*A. anthocoptes*种群区分度最高的性状为背环纹（dorsal annuli）数量。本研究未能将该螨的形态差异归因于寄主植物的影响。