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Family ALLOTHYRIDAE Van der Hammen, 1972

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.

 

History of changes

Note that this list may be incomplete for dates prior to September 2013.
Published As part of group Action Date Action Type Compiler(s)
07-May-2013 07-May-2013 MODIFIED
07-May-2013 08-Jul-2010 ADDED
08-Jul-2010 MODIFIED