Family CERCOMEGISTIDAE Trägårdh, 1937

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• Cercomegistidae Trägårdh, I. 1937. Zur Systematik der Mesostigmata. Arkiv för Zoologi 29B(11): 1-8.

Introduction

The family Cercomegistidae is a group of five genera and about 12 species of large heavily sclerotised mites that have usually been collected in association with other arthropods. Their hosts include bark beetles, spiders, and land crabs (Lindquist et al. 2009). The known species were catalogued by Kethley (1977) and the species of Cercomegistus were keyed by Domrow (1976). The family is represented in Australia by one described species, which is known from a single specimen collected from the fur of a rat. Beaulieu et al. (2010) reported a second species of Cercomegistus, as yet undescribed, and Lindquist et al. (2009) referred to the existence of a diverse fauna.

General References

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

Domrow, R. 1976. Cercomegistina (Acari) in Australia. Journal of the Australian Entomological Society 15: 201-205

Kethley, J.B. 1977. A review of the higher categories of Trigynaspida (Acari : Parasitiformes). International Journal of Acarology 3: 129-149

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.

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