Family PODOCINIDAE Berlese, 1913

Museums

Regional Maps

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

Introduction

The Podocinidae is a family of predatory mites that occur in leaf litter, especially in tropical and semi-tropical climates, where they prey on Collembola. Some species have been collected in the nests of rodents and ants (Lindquist et al. 2009). They are easily recognised by their very long anterior legs and highly ornamented cuticle. The family includes two genera and about 40 species world-wide. The most recent taxonomic work on the family was by Yan et al. (2011). The Australian fauna comprises three species, including the cosmopolitan Podocinum pacificum and two endemic species (Halliday 1990). Proctor et al. (2011) reported unidentified species from Queensland.

General References

Halliday, R.B. 1990. The occurrence in Australia of Podocinidae (Acarina : Mesostigmata), with description of two new species. Journal of the Australian Entomological Society 29: 277-280

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.

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

Yan, Y., Jin, D.-C., Guo, X.-G. & Guo, J.J. 2011. A new species of Podocinum Berlese (Acari: Podocinidae) and a key to species of the genus from China. Zootaxa 3001: 49–56

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