Family EUPALOPSELLIDAE Willmann, 1952

Museums

Regional Maps

• Eupalopsellidae Willmann, C. 1952. Die Milbenfauna der Nordseeinsel Wangerooge. Veröffentlichungen des Instituts für Meeresforschung in Bremerhaven 1: 139-186.

Introduction

The Eupalopsellidae is a cosmopolitan family of about 30 species arranged in five genera (Walter et al., 2009). Smith Meyer & Ueckermann (1984) reviewed the family and provided a key to genera, but some generic re-arrangement has taken place since that time. Some species have been found in leaf litter, but most occur on the bark of trees and shrubs. They are predators that feed on the immature stages of scale insects, and may have some value as biological control agents of scale insect pests (Gerson et al. 2003). The Australian fauna of four species in three genera was revised by Gerson (1994). A further Australian genus, Acaciacarus Gerson, Frost & Swift, 1997, was described in the Eupalopsellidae, but is now placed in the Mecognathidae. Unidentified species have been recorded from Australia a number of times as listed for each genus, and unidentified Eupalopsellidae were also reported by Austin (1993).

General References

Austin, A.D. 1993. Nest associates of Clubiona robusta L. Koch (Araneae : Clubionidae) in Australia. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 33: 441-446

Gerson, U. 1994. The Australian Eupalopsellidae (Acari: Prostigmata). Invertebrate Taxonomy 8: 63-73

Gerson, U., Frost, W.E. & Swift, S.F. 1997. A new genus of the family Eupalopsellidae from Australia (Acari: Prostigmata). International Journal of Acarology 23: 185-189

Gerson, U., Smiley, R.L. & Ochoa, R. 2003. Mites (Acari) for Pest Control. Oxford : Blackwell Science 539 pp.

Meyer, M.K.P. (Smith) & Ueckermann, E.A. 1984. The family Eupallopsellidae (Acari : Prostigmata), with descriptions of new species from South Africa. Phytophylactica 16: 121-142

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