Family HEATHERELLIDAE Walter, 1997

Museums

Regional Maps

• Heatherellidae Walter, D.E. 1997. Heatherellidae - a new family of Mesostigmata (Acari : Parasitiformes) based on two new species from rainforest litter in Australia. International Journal of Acarology 23: 167-175.

Introduction

The Heatherellidae is an Australasian family containing two genera and four species, which occur in rainforest leaf litter in Queensland and New Zealand (Walter 1997; Seeman et al., 2018). The family has a remarkable combination of morphological characters that makes it impossible to determine its correct taxonomic position until further research is carried out on the higher classification of the Mesostigmata. Lindquist et al. (2009) provisionally placed the family in its own Cohort Heatherellina, which is here treated as an Infraorder.

General References

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.

Seeman, O.D., Minor, M., Baker, M.R. & Walter, D.E. 2018. A revision of the Heatherellidae (Parasitiformes: Mesostigmata) with a new genus and two new species from Australasia. Zootaxa 4434(3): 441-465.

Walter, D.E. 1997. Heatherellidae - a new family of Mesostigmata (Acari : Parasitiformes) based on two new species from rainforest litter in Australia. International Journal of Acarology 23: 167-175

History of changes