Family PSORERGATIDAE Dubinin, 1955

Museums

Regional Maps

• Psorergatidae Dubinin, W. 1955. Acariens des rongeurs d'U. S. S. R. II. Psorergatidae. Traveaux des Academie de Sciences U. R. S. S. (Zoologie) 59: 150-152.

Introduction

Mites in the family Psorergatidae are ectoparasites that occur on the skin of mammalian hosts. They can cause dermatitis, mange and other serious skin conditions in livestock and wild species (Walter et al. 2009; Mullen & OConnor 2009). The classification, phylogeny, and host relationships of the family were comprehensively reviewed by Giesen (1990), who listed 70 species in three genera. The Australian fauna includes only two species as catalogued by Domrow (1991). One of those species is an endemic parasite of bats, and the other is the economically important sheep itch mite Psorobia ovis, which was previously known as Psorergates ovis.

General References

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

Giesen, K.M.T. 1990. A review of the parasitic mite family Psorergatidae (Cheyletoidea : Prostigmata : Acari) with hypotheses on the phylogenetic relationships of species and species groups. Zoologische Verhandelingen (Leiden) 259: 1-69

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.

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