Family PARAMEGISTIDAE Trägårdh, 1946

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Regional Maps

• Paramegistidae Trägårdh, I. 1946. Outlines of a new classification of the Mesostigmata (Acarina) based on comparative morphological data. Lunds Universitets Årsskrift 42(4): 1-37.

Introduction

The family Paramegistidae includes 26 known species in six genera. Members of some genera are found attached to beetles or millipedes, while others occur on lizards and snakes (Lindquist et al. 2009). Kim & Klompen (2002) provided a brief review of the family and a key to genera. The Australian fauna includes six species in four genera. Domrow (1987) reviewed the genus Ophiomegistus, and Derne et al (2019) added a new species. Baker & Seeman (2008) recorded the genus Neomegistus from Australia for the first time, for a species associated with a millipede.

General References

Baker, M.R. & Seeman, O.D. 2008. Mites and millipedes: a new Neomegistus (Acari: Mesostigmata: Paramegistidae) from Australia. Systematic and Applied Acarology 13: 204-213

Derne, B.T., Hutchinson, M.N., Weinstein, P., Gardner, M.G. & Halliday B. 2019. Parasite in peril? A new species of mite in the genus Ophiomegistus (Parasitiformes: Paramegistidae) on an endangered host, the pygmy bluetongue lizard Tiliqua adelaidensis (Peters) (Squamata: Scincidae). Austral Ecology 44: 420-432

Domrow, R. 1988. Acari Mesostigmata parasitic on Australian vertebrates: an annotated checklist, keys and bibliography. Invertebrate Taxonomy 1: 817-948

Kim, C.-M. & Klompen, H. 2002. A new genus and species of Paramegistidae (Mesostigmata: Trigynaspida) associated with millipedes from Mexico. Acarologia 42: 39–52

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.

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