Family ECHIMYOPODIDAE Fain, 1967

Museums

Regional Maps

• Echimyopinae Fain, A. 1967. Nouveaux hypopes vivant dans les follicules pileux de rongeurs américaines. Revue de Zoologie et de Botanique Africaines 76: 157-162.

Introduction

The family Echimyopodidae is a small group of five genera and 31 species (OConnor 2009). Two genera occur in Australia, with sharply differing biology. The two Australian species of Blomia are cosmopolitan inhabitants of house dust and stored food, and these are implicated in human allergy. The taxonomy of this genus is very difficult, and many published records may be based on confused identifications (Colloff 2009). There are also seven Australian species of Marsupiopus, which are endofollicular parasites in the skin of of marsupials and rodents, and which can sometimes cause significant pathology in their hosts (catalogued by Domrow 1992).

General References

Colloff, M.J. 2009. Dust Mites. Melbourne : CSIRO Publishing pp. 583.

Domrow, R. 1992. Acari Astigmata (excluding feather mites) parasitic on Australian vertebrates: an annotated checklist, keys and bibliography. Invertebrate Taxonomy 6: 1459-1606

OConnor, B.M. 2009. Cohort Astigmatina. pp. 565–657 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