Family SPHAEROLICHIDAE Grandjean, 1939

Museums

Regional Maps

• Sphærolichidæ Grandjean, F. 1939. Quelques genres d'acariens appartenant au groupe des Endeostigmata. Annales des Sciences Naturelles, Zoologie 11 2: 1-122.

Introduction

The family Sphaerolichidae includes only the genus Sphaerolichus, with about six little-known species that occur in leaf litter and soil in South Africa, Peru, Europe, and Japan (Kethley 1982). The most substantial taxonomic work on the family was by Theron & Ryke (1975). The family is known from Australia only from unidentified species of Sphaerolichus from Queensland (Walter et al. 2009) and unidentified Sphaerolichidae reported by Proctor et al. (2011). They are described as bright pink and slow-moving, and are probably predators.

General References

Kethley, J. 1982. Acariformes. pp. 117-145 in Parker, S.P. (ed.). Synopsis and Classification of Living Organisms. New York : McGraw-Hill Vol. 2.

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

Theron, P.D. & Ryke, P.A.J. 1975. Three new species of the family Sphaerolichidae (Acari: Endeostigmata) from South Africa. Acarologia 17: 220–235

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