Family LIMNESIIDAE Thor, 1900

Museums

Regional Maps

• Limnesiidae Thor, S. 1900. Prodromus Systematis Hydrachnidarum. Nyt Magazin for Naturvidenskaberne, Oslo 38: 263-266.

Introduction

The Limnesiidae is a large and diverse family of water mites that are found in streams, ponds and lakes world-wide. The boundaries of the family and its constituent subfamilies are not clearly defined, and future research will probably show that it is not monophyletic (Harvey 1998; Walter et al. 2009). Where they are known, the larvae are parasites of aquatic flies. The Australian fauna includes 31 species in five genera, most of which are endemic. The largest single work on Australian water mites is by Cook (1986), the world fauna was catalogued by Viets (1987), and the Australian fauna was reviewed by Harvey (1998). Unidentified species have been recorded from Australia a number of times as listed for each genus, and unidentified Limnesiidae were also reported by Malipatil & Blyth (1982).

General References

Cook, D.R. 1986. Water mites from Australia. Memoirs of the American Entomological Institute 40: 1-568

Harvey, M.S. 1998. The Australian Water Mites. A Guide to the Families and Genera. Melbourne : CSIRO Publishing 150 pp.

Malipatil, M.B. & Blyth, J.D. 1982. A qualitative study of the macroinvertebrate fauna of the Thomson River and its major tributaries, Gippsland, Victoria. Reports of the National Museum of Victoria 1: 1-95

Viets, K.O. 1987. Die Milben des Süsswassers (Hydrachnellae und Halacaridae (Part.), Acari). 2. Katalog. Berlin : Paul Parey 1012 pp.

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