Family MICRODISPIDAE Cross, 1965

Museums

Regional Maps

• Microdispini Cross, E.A. 1965. The generic relationships of the family Pyemotidae (Acarina : Trombidiformes). University of Kansas Science Bulletin 45: 29-275.

Introduction

The taxonomic placement of the family Microdispidae has been unstable, but it is here placed in the Scutacaroidea following Walter et al. (2009). Microdispidae are small mites that occur in soil and litter, rotting wood, and moss. Some species are phoretic on insects or other arthropods. Most appear to be fungivorous, but some species may be parasites on insects. The family includes 15 genera and 100 species world-wide. The Australian Microdispidae are poorly known, with only a single named species in the genus Microdispus, which is a pest of cultivated mushrooms. Unidentified species of Microdispus have been recorded from Australia a number of times, and unidentified Microdispidae were also reported by Osler et al. (2000) and Proctor et al. (2011).

General References

Osler, G.H.R., van Vliet, P.C.J., Gauci, C.S. & Abbott, L.K. 2000. Changes in free living soil nematode and micro-arthropod communities under a canola-wheat-lupin rotation in Western Australia. Australian Journal of Soil Research 38: 47–59

Proctor, H., Kanowski, J., Catterall, C.P., Wardell-Johnson, G. & Reis, T. 2011. Rainforest-restoration success as judged by assemblages of soil- and litter-dwelling mites (Arachnida: Acari). Zoosymposia 6: 234–254

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