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Insect antennae carry diverse sensory organs for detecting information about their environments and facilitating interaction among individuals, particularly for reproductive behaviour. As such they...

The following associations between rats and mites on Raoul and Meyer Islands, Kermadec group, are reported and discussed in relation to existing records from the South Pacific region. From Rattus norvegicus (Berkenhaut), the Norway rat, alone: Mesostigmata ‐ *Mesolaelaps australiensis (Hirst), *Parasitus sp.; Prostigmata ‐ an unidentified tetranychid and an unidentified tydeid; Astigmata ‐ Euroglyphus maynei (Cooreman); Cryptostigmata ‐ Nothrus biciliatus Koch, Tumerozetes sp. From the Norway rat and Rattus exulans (Peale), the Polynesian rat: Mesostigmata‐ *Gymnolaelaps annectans Womersley, *Laelaps nuttali Hirst, *Ornithonyssus bacoti (Hirst); Prostigmata ‐ *Radfordia ensifera (Poppe); Astigmata ‐ Tyro‐phagus palmarum Oudemans, T. putrescentiae (Schrank), T. similis Volgin, Glycyphagus domesticus (de Geer), feather‐mites. No species was found solely on the Polynesian rat. At least 19 species are represented: 6(*)—including 3 cosmopolitan species—are considered to be ectoparasitic on the rats; the remain...

Thorellia ensifera, a salticid spider from Singapore, builds nests on leaves in the rainforest. Males use different mating tactics depending on the female’s maturity and location (courtship versatility): visual displays if the female is mature and away from her nest; vibratory displays if she is mature and in her nest; and cohabitation if she is a subadult in her nest. Other displays occur during male-male interactions. Males of this species have an unusual structure on their anterior cephalothoraces (a “horn”), which was examined by SEM. The possible significance of the male’s horn in intraspecific interactions is discussed.

The Acari Laelaps nuttalli Hirst, Hypoaspis sp., Cheyletus cf. malaccensis Oudemans, Radfordia ensifera (Poppe), Listrophoroides cucullatus (Trouessart), Tyrophagus perniciosus Zachvatkin, and Hammerobates trisetosus Balogh and the louse Hoplopleura pacifica Ewing are reported from Rattus exulans (Peale) on the Tokelau Islands. These associations are discussed in relation to other records from the South Pacific region.