Family ALICORHAGIIDAE Grandjean, 1939

Museums

Regional Maps

• Alicorhagiidæ Grandjean, F. 1939. Quelques genres d'acariens appartenant au groupe des Endeostigmata. Annales des Sciences Naturelles, Zoologie 11 2: 1-122.

Introduction

Mites of the family Alicorhagiidae have occasionally been collected in Australia, but very little is known about them. Walter (2001) reviewed the Australian fauna and reported a single described species in each of two genera, as well as a possibly undescribed genus. Other records of incompletely identified species include those of Heatwole et al. (1981) and Noble et al. (1996). These species appear to ingest solid food, including fungal mycelium, spores, and soft-bodied invertebrates. Both of the Australian species were originally described from South Africa. These mites are very small and inconsipcuous, and it is likely that many specimens have been overlooked in field collections.

General References

Heatwole, H., Done, T. & Cameron, E. 1981. Community Ecology of a Coral Cay: A study of One-Tree Island, Great Barrier Reef, Australia. The Hague : W. Junk 379 pp.

Noble, J.C., Whitford, W.G. & Kaliszewski, M. 1996. Soil and litter microarthropod populations from two contrasting ecosystems in semi-arid eastern Australia. Journal of Arid Environments 32: 329-346

Proctor, H., Kanowski, J., Catterall, C.P., Wardell-Johnson, G. & Reis, T. 2011. Rainforest-restoration success as judged by assemblages of soil- and litter-dwelling mites (Arachnida: Acari). Zoosymposia 6: 234–254

Walter, D.E. 2001. Endemism and cryptogenesis in 'segmented' mites: A review of Australian Alicorhagiidae, Terpnacaridae, Oehserchestidae and Grandjeanicidae (Acari: Sarcoptiformes). Australian Journal of Entomology 40: 207-218

History of changes