Family MYOBIIDAE Mégnin, 1877

Museums

Regional Maps

• Myobiés Mégnin, J.-P. 1877. Monographie de la tribu des Sarcoptides psoriques qui comprend tous les acariens de la gale de l'homme et des animaux. Revue et Magasin de Zoologie Pure et Appliquée 3 5: 46-213 + Plates 4-10.

Introduction

The Myobiidae is a family of 50 genera and 450 species that are found in the fur of a wide variety of mammals, especially bats and rodents, and some marsupials (Walter et al. 2009). They feed on tissues in the hair follicles of their hosts, and some cause dermatitis in laboratory rodents (Mullen & OConnor 2009). The first pair of legs is highly modified, and armed with spines and ridges that are used for clasping the hair of the host. Bochkov & Fain (2003) reviewed the systematics and host relationships of several large genera. The Australian fauna of 13 genera and 39 species was catalogued by Domrow (1991).

All Australian records of Calcarmyobia rhinolophia Radford, 1940 are based on misidentification of Calcarmyobia miniopteris (Womersley, 1941). See Domrow (1991) for details.

Excluded Taxa

Misidentifications

Myobiidae: Calcarmyobia rhinolophia (Radford, 1940) — Radford, C.D. 1940. Notes on some new species of parasitic mites. Part 3. Parasitology 32: 91–104

General References

Bochkov, A.V. & Fain, A. 2003. New observations on mites of the family Myobiidae Megnin, 1877 (Acari: Prostigmata) with special reference to their host-parasite relationships. Bulletin de l'Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique, Entomologie 73: 5–50

Domrow, R. 1991. Acari Prostigmata (excluding Trombiculidae) parasitic on Australian vertebrates : an annotated checklist, keys and bibliography. Invertebrate Taxonomy 4: 1238-1376

Mullen, G.R. & OConnor, B.M. 2009. Mites (Acari). pp. 433-492 in Mullen, G.R. & Durden, L.A. Medical and Veterinary Entomology. Amsterdam : Elsevier 2.

Radford, C.D. 1940. Notes on some new species of parasitic mites. Part 3. Parasitology 32: 91–104

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.

Womersley, H. 1941. Notes on the Cheyletidae (Acarina, Trombidoidea) of Australia and New Zealand, with descriptions of new species. Records of the South Australian Museum (Adelaide) 7: 51-64

History of changes