Family DOLICHOCYBIDAE Mahunka, 1970

Museums

Regional Maps

• Dolichocybidae Mahunka, S. 1970. Considerations on the systematics of the Tarsonemina and the description of new European taxa (Acari: Tromdidiformes). Acta Zoologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungariae 16: 137-174.

Introduction

The family Dolichocybidae includes about 25 species world-wide (Walter et al. 2009). They are minute mites found in soil and litter, under bark, and in the nests of various types of insects, on which they are phoretic. They appear to be funigvorous and not parasitic (Kaliszewski et al. 1995). A few species may be pests of cultivated mushrooms. The Australian Dolichocybidae are poorly known, with only a single unidentified species, as reported from soil by Noble et al. (1996) and Longstaff et al. (1999).

General References

Kaliszewski, M., Athias-Binche, F. & Lindquist, E.E. 1995. Parasitism and parasitoidism in Tarsonemina (Acari: Heterostigmata) and evolutionary considerations. Advances in Parasitology 35: 335-367

Longstaff, B.C., Greenslade, P.J.M., Colloff, M., Reid, I., Hart, P. & Packer, I. 1999. Managing Soils in Agriculture. The Impact of Soil Tillage Practices on Soil Fauna. Canberra, Australia : Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation Publication No 99/18. pp. 65.

Noble, J.C., Tongway, D.J., Roper, M.M. & Whitford, W.G. 1996. Fire studies in mallee (Eucalyptus spp.) communities of western New South Wales: spatial and temporal fluxes in soil chemistry and soil biology following prescribed fire. Pacific Conservation Biology 2: 398-413

Walter, D.E., Lindquist, E.E., Smith, I.M., Cook, D.R. & Krantz, G.W. 2009. Order Trombidiformes. pp. 233-420 in Krantz, G.W. & Walter, D.E. (eds). A Manual of Acarology. Lubbock, Texas : Texas Tech University Press Third edition, 807 pp.

History of changes