Family LAELAPTONYSSIDAE Womersley, 1956

Museums

Regional Maps

• Laelaptonyssidae Womersley, H. 1956. On some new Acarina-Mesostigmata from Australia, New Zealand and New Guinea. Journal of the Linnean Society of London, Zoology 42: 505-599.

Introduction

The Laelaptonyssidae is a small family of about ten species of highly aberrant mites that are associated with termites (Lindquist et al. 2009). Their highly modifed morphology obscures the family's relationships, and the taxonomic placement of this family in the Rhodacaroidea is questionable. The known species have been recorded from Australia, China, Italy, and the USA. Krantz (2000) reviewed the systematics and biology of the family, and suggested that these mites may be predators of nematodes in termite nests. The single genus Laelaptonyssus Womersley, 1956 was recently found to be a synonym of Starkovia Lombardini, 1947 (new synonymy). The Australian fauna includes five species, as reviewed by Halliday (2006).

General References

Halliday, R.B. 2006. New taxa of mites associated with Australian termites (Acari: Mesostigmata). International Journal of Acarology 32: 27-38

Krantz, G.W. 2000. Two new species of the genus Laelaptonyssus Womersley from North America and Australia, with observations supporting the reinstatement to family level of the subfamily Laelaptonyssinae sensu Lee, 1970 (Acari: Mesostigmata: Rhodacaroidea). Acarologia 41: 25-38

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.

Lombardini, G. 1947. Descrizione di un nuovo genere e di una nuova specie di Acari Mesostigmati. Redia. Giornale di entomologia, Firenze 32: 175-178

Womersley, H. 1956. On some new Acarina-Mesostigmata from Australia, New Zealand and New Guinea. Journal of the Linnean Society of London, Zoology 42: 505-599

History of changes