Family POLYASPIDIDAE Berlese, 1913

Museums

Regional Maps

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

Introduction

The family Polyaspididae as used here includes a single genus and about 20 species (Hirschmann & Wiśniewski 1993). They are found in Europe, Africa, North and South America, and Australasia in litter, moss, under bark, and in tree holes. Camin (1953) summarised the classification of the family, and Athias (1975) reviewed the morphology and development of the best known species, Polyaspis patavinus. The European species of Polyaspis were reviewed by Karg (1989) and Mašán (2001). Only one described species is known from Australia, Polyaspis australis, which was described from deutonymphs phoretic on beetles in Queensland and Java (Berlese, 1910). The identity of this species can not be confirmed, because the type slides are so badly damaged that the specimens are no longer visible (Gorirossi-Boudeau 1997). Proctor et al. (2011) reported an unidentified species from Queensland.

General References

Athias, F. 1975. Observations morphologiques sur Polyaspis patavinus Berlese 1881 (Acariens: Uropodides). I. Morphologie de l'idiosoma au cours du développement postembryonnaire. Acarologia 17: 410–435

Berlese, A. 1910. Brevi diagnosi di generi e specie nuovi di Acari. Redia. Giornale di entomologia, Firenze 6: 346-388

Camin, J.H. 1953. A revision of the Cohort Trachytina Trägårdh, 1938, with the description of Dyscritaspis whartoni, a new genus and species of Polyaspid mite from tree holes. Bulletin of the Chicago Academy of Sciences 9: 335-385

Gorirossi-Bourdeau, F. 1997. A review of Berlese's species belonging to the Uropodina with illustrations. Part I: Species and subspecies beginning with the letters a and b. (Mesostigmata: Parasitiformes: Acari). Studiedocumenten van het Koninklijk Belgisch Instituut voor Natuurwetenschappen 90: 1-108

Hirschmann, W. & Wisniewski, J. 1993. Acari Parasitiformes. Supercohors Atrichopygidiina Hirschmann 1975. Die Uropodiden der Erde. Acarologie. Schriftenreihe für Vergleichende Milbenkunde 40: 1-466

Karg, W. 1989. Acari (Acarina), Milben, Unterordnung Parasitiformes (Anactinochaeta). Uropodina Kramer, Schildkrötenmilben. Die Tierwelt Deutschlands und der angrenzenden Meeresteile 67: 1–203

Mašán, P. 2001. Mites of the Cohort Uropodina (Acarina, Mesostigmata) in Slovakia. Annotationes Zoologicae et Botanicae, Bratislava 223: 1–320

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