Family ALLOTHYRIDAE Van der Hammen, 1972

Museums

Regional Maps

• Allothyridae Hammen, L. van der 1972. A revised classification of the mites (Arachnidea, Acarida) with diagnoses, a key, and notes on phylogeny. Zoologische Mededelingen (Leiden) 47: 273-292.

Introduction

The family Allothyridae is known from only three named species in two genera. Two of the species are endemic to Australia, and the third, Allothyrus australasiae, has also been reported from New Zealand. Lehtinen (1995) provided a map showing the geographic distribution of the family. The fauna is much richer than the current state of knowledge would suggest. Walter & Proctor (1998) reported at least 12 undescribed species from eastern Australian forests, and unidentified species were also reported by Klompen (1992), Lehtinen (1995) and Proctor et al. (2011). These are large red-brown slow-moving mites that are found in leaf litter. Walter & Proctor (1998) described their behaviour, and found that they are scavengers that feed on fluids extracted from dead arthropods. Walter (2009) summarised the available information about their morphology and life cycles.

General References

Klompen, J.S.H. 1992. Comparative morphology of argasid larvae (Acari: Ixodida: Argasidae), with notes on phylogenetic relationships. Annals of the Entomological Society of America 85: 541–560

Lehtinen, P.T. 1995. Revision of the Old World Holothyridae (Arachnida: Anactinotrichida: Holothyrina). Invertebrate Taxonomy 9: 767–826

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. 2009. Order Holothyrida (Holothyrina, Tetrastigmata). pp. 107–110 in Krantz, G.W. & Walter, D.E. (eds). A Manual of Acarology. Lubbock, Texas : Texas Tech University Press Third edition, 807 pp.

Walter, D.E. & Proctor, H.C. 1998. Feeding behaviour and phylogeny: observations on early derivative Acari. Experimental and Applied Acarology 22: 39-50

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