Family BLATTISOCIIDAE Garman, 1948

Museums

Regional Maps

• Blattisociinae Garman, P. 1948. Mite species from apple trees in Connecticut. Bulletin of the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station 520: 5-57.

Introduction

Until recently the family Blattisociidae was considered to be a subfamily or tribe in the family Ascidae. It is here treated as a family in the superfamily Phytoseioidea, following the classification of Lindquist et al. (2009). A detailed discussion of this change, and a diagnosis of the family Blattisociidae, can be found in Lindquist & Moraza (2010). These mites are found in all types of decomposing organic matter in both terrestrial and semi-aquatic habitats, where they prey on nematodes and the eggs and larvae of small insects. Several species in the genus Blattisocius are common in stored food, and are considered as beneficial predators that feed on the eggs and larvae of pest insects. The Australian fauna of six genera and 18 species was included in the revision of the Ascidae by Halliday et al. (1998), and since that time Walter & Lindquist (2000) added a new genus and species. Unidentified species of Blattisociidae have been reported from Australia on many occasions, including Cheiroseius spp. and Lasioseius sp. (Beaulieu et al. 2007, 2010). The world fauna was catalogued by Moraes et al. (2016).

General References

Beaulieu, F. & Walter, D.E. 2007. Predation in suspended and forest floor soils: observations on Australian mesostigmatic mites. Acarologia 47: 43–54

Beaulieu., F., Walter, D.E., Proctor, H.C. & Kitching, R.L. 2010. The canopy starts at 0.5 m: predatory mites (Acari: Mesostigmata) differ between rainforest floor soil and suspended soil at any height. Biotropica 42: 704–709 + supplementary pages 1–13

Halliday, R.B., Walter, D.E. & Lindquist, E.E. 1998. Revision of the Australian Ascidae (Acarina: Mesostigmata). Invertebrate Taxonomy 12: 1-54

Lindquist, E.E., Krantz, G.W. & Walter, D.E. 2009. Order Mesostigmata. pp.124-232 in Krantz, G.W. & Walter, D.E. (eds). A Manual of Acarology. Lubbock, Texas : Texas Tech University Press Third edition, 807 pp.

Lindquist, E.E. & Moraza, M.L. 2010. Revised diagnosis of the family Blattisociidae (Acari: Mesostigmata: Phytoseioidea), with a key to its genera and description of new fungus-inhabiting genus from Costa Rica. Zootaxa 2479: 1-21

Moraes, G.J. de, Britto, E.P.J., Mineiro, J.L.de C. & Halliday, B. 2016. Catalogue of the mite families Ascidae Voigts & Oudemans, Blattisociidae Garman and Melicharidae Hirschmann (Acari: Mesostigmata). Zootaxa 4112: 1-299.

Walter, D.E. & Lindquist, E.E. 2000. Arrhenoseius gloriosus n.g., n.sp. (Acari: Mesostigmata: Ascidae), an arrhenotokous mite from rainforests in Queensland, Australia. Acarologia 41: 53-68

History of changes