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Family LEPTOLAELAPIDAE Karg, 1978

Introduction

The Leptolaelapidae is an essentially Gondwanan family of 11 genera and 42 species (Karg 1983, 1997). They are predators that occur in soil and litter, and most species are phoretic or commensal with insects. Lindquist et al. (2009) consider that this family is a heterogeneous mixture of genera that should be placed in different families in the Eviphidoidea and Dermanyssoidea. However, the family is provisionally retained here until all its members can be thoroughly revised and redistributed to other families. The Australian fauna includes five genera and 24 species. Most of those species are placed in the endemic genera Paradoxiphis and Cosmetolaelaps, which are highly specialised associates of beetles in the families Geotrupidae and Scarabaeidae respectively. Beaulieu et al. (2006) and Beaulieu & Walter (2007) reported unidentified species of Hunteracarus and Leptolaelapidae, and Beaulieu et al (2010) suggested the existence of at least two new genera of Leptolaelapidae in Queensland.

 

History of changes

Note that this list may be incomplete for dates prior to September 2013.
Published As part of group Action Date Action Type Compiler(s)
07-May-2013 07-May-2013 MODIFIED
06-Nov-2011 06-Nov-2011 MOVED
08-Aug-2010 08-Aug-2010 MOVED
08-Aug-2010 17-Jul-2010 ADDED
09-Jul-2010 09-Jul-2010 ADDED
08-Jul-2010 MODIFIED