Family PACHYLAELAPIDAE Berlese, 1913

Museums

Regional Maps

• Pachylaelaptini Berlese, A. 1913. Acarotheca Italica. Firenze : Ricci 221 pp.

Introduction

Mites in the family Pachylaelapidae are predators that occur in soil and compost, dung, and the nests of mammals and social insects (Lindquist et al. 2009). They feed on nematodes and the eggs and larvae of insects, and many species are phoretic on beetles that share their habitats. Hirschmann & Krauss (1965) listed 55 species in the single genus Pachylaelaps. The Australian fauna of Pachylaelapidae seems to be very depauperate, with only four genera and five known species, including two genera and two species that may have been accidentally introduced by human activities (Halliday 2001; Halliday & Mašán 2008). Callan et al. (2011), Proctor et al. (2011) and Majer et al. (2013) reported unidentified species. The world fauna was reviewed by Mašán & Halliday (2014).

General References

Callan, S.K., Majer, J.D., Edwards, K. & Moro, D. 2011. Documenting the terrestrial invertebrate fauna of Barrow Island, Western Australia. Australian Journal of Entomology 50: 323–343

Halliday, B. & Mašán, P. 2008. Pachydellus hades (Halliday) (Acari: Pachylaelapidae), a European mite species described from Australia. Australian Journal of Entomology 47: 225-226

Halliday, R.B. 2001. Mesostigmatid mite fauna of Jenolan Caves, New South Wales (Acari: Mesostigmata). Australian Journal of Entomology 40: 299-311

Hirschmann, W. & Krauss, W. 1965. Gangsystematik der Parasitiformes. Teil 8. Gamasiden. Bestimmungstafeln von 55 Pachylaelaps-Arten. Acarologie. Schriftenreihe für Vergleichende Milbenkunde 7: 1–5 + Plates 1–28

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.

Majer, J.D., Callan, S.K., Edwards, K., Gunawardene, N.R. & Taylor, C.K. 2013. Baseline survey of the terrestrial invertebrate fauna of Barrow Island. Records of the Western Australian Museum, Supplement 83: 13-112.

Mašán, P. & Halliday, B. 2014. Review of the mite family Pachylaelapidae (Acari: Mesostigmata). Zootaxa 3776: 1-66.

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

History of changes