Family LEPTOLAELAPIDAE Karg, 1978

Museums

Regional Maps

• Leptolaelapinae Karg, W. 1978. To the knowledge of the genera Macrocheles Latreille, 1829 and Leptolaelaps Berlese, 1918 (Acarina, Parasitiformes). Zoologische Jahrbücher. Abteilung für Systematik, Ökologie und Geographie der Tiere 105: 360-367.

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.

General References

Beaulieu, F., Walter, D.E., Proctor, H.C., Kitching, R.L. & Menzel, F. 2006. Mesostigmatid mites (Acari: Mesostigmata) on rainforest tree trunks: arboreal specialists, but substrate generalists? Experimental and Applied Acarology 39: 25–40

Beaulieu, F. & Walter, D.E. 2007. Predation in suspended and forest floor soils: observations on Australian mesostigmatic mites. Acarologia 47: 43–54

Beaulieu., F., Walter, D.E., Proctor, H.C. & Kitching, R.L. 2010. The canopy starts at 0.5 m: predatory mites (Acari: Mesostigmata) differ between rainforest floor soil and suspended soil at any height. Biotropica 42: 704–709 + supplementary pages 1–13

Karg, W. 1983. Systematic investigation of the predatory mite family Leptolaelapidae Karg, 1978 (Acarina, Parasitiformes). Zoologische Jahrbücher. Abteilung für Systematik, Ökologie und Geographie der Tiere 110: 377-396

Karg, W. 1997. Die raubmilbenfamilie Leptolaelapidae Karg (Acarina, Parasitiformes). Acarologia 38: 207-218

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.

History of changes