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Histiostomatidae

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Histiostomatidae
Temporal range: Palaeogene–present
Ventral view of Sarraceniopus gibsoni, the pitcher plant mite, which is found within the pitcher leaves of Sarracenia purpurea
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Sarcoptiformes
Superfamily: Histiostomatoidea
Family: Histiostomatidae
Berlese, 1897

Histiostomatidae is a family of mites in the clade Astigmata.[1]

Description

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These mites are characterized by a very small size (about 600–900 μm in length) and a close association to arthropods, mainly insects. A morphologically specialized instar, the deutonymph (earlier "hypopus"), is adapted to attach to arthropods for phoretic transport from one habitat to another. The mites use various insect groups as phoretic carriers[2][3] such as beetles, flies and Hymenoptera (ants, bees and wasps). In all species, the digitus mobilis of the chelicera is reduced to small rests, and the distal pedipalp article is connected to a more or less complex membranous structure. These mouthpart modifications form an organ to feed on bacteria.[4]

Habitats colonized by these mites include animal dung, compost,[2] water-filled tree hollows and the fluids of Nepenthes and Sarracenia pitcher plants.[5]

Genera

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The family contains the following genera:[6]

References

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  1. ^ B. M. OConnor (1981). A systematic revision of the family-group taxa in the non-psoroptid Astigmata (Acari, Acariformes) (Ph.D. thesis). University of Michigan.
  2. ^ a b R. Scheucher (1957). "Systematik und Ökologie der deutschen Anoetinen". Beiträge zur Systematik und Ökologie mitteleuropäischer Acarina (in German). 1: 233–384.
  3. ^ R. D. Hughes & C. G. Jackson (1958). "A review of the Anoetidae (Acari)". Virginia Journal of Science. 9: 5–198.
  4. ^ Stefan Wirth (2004). Phylogeny, biology and character transformations of the Histiostomatidae (Acari, Astigmata) (Ph.D. thesis). Freie Universität Berlin.
  5. ^ Norman J. Fashing (2002). "Nepenthacarus, a new genus of Histiostomatidae (Acari) inhabiting the pitchers of Nepenthes mirabilis (Lour.) Druce in Far North Queensland, Australia" (PDF). Australian Journal of Entomology. 41: 2–11.
  6. ^ "Histiostomatidae Berlese, 1897". Joel Hallan's Biology Catalog. Texas A&M University. Archived from the original on November 16, 2004. Retrieved May 4, 2013.