Some factors affecting metabolic rate in an Antarctic mite

1. Determinations of live weight-specific oxygen consumption (metabolic rate) in adults of the Antarctic terrestrial mite Alaskozetes antarcticus (Michael) showed that starvation resulted in metabolic suppression. 2. Food materials were shown to influence metabolic rates and depletion of oxygen concentration in Cartesian Divers resulted in decreased oxygen uptake. 3. The effects of sex and reproductive condition on metabolic rates were explicable on the basis of weight differences between males, gravid females and non-gravid females. 4. Long periods of laboratory culture tended to result in lower weights and metabolic rates, but short term temporal variation in weight-specific oxygen consumption within individuals was also demonstrated. 5. Oxygen consumption rates of adult A. antarcticus were measured at -4°C and found to be slightly lower than values previously measured at 0°C.