Genus Scapheremaeus Berlese, 1910

Museums

Regional Maps

• Scapheremaeus Berlese, A. 1910. Acari nuovi. Manipulus V, VI. Redia. Giornale di entomologia, Firenze 6: 199-234 pls XVIII-XXI.

Introduction

Until recently the family Cymbaeremaeidae was known from Australia only on the basis of incompletely identified species of Scapheremaeus (O'Dowd et al. 1991; Walter & O'Dowd 1992; Walter & Behan-Pelletier 1993; Walter et al. 1994; Walter 1995, 1999; Colloff & Halliday 1998; Proctor et al. 2002; Adolphson & Kinnear 2008) and an undescribed fossil genus (O'Dowd et al. 1991). It is now known that Scapheremaeus is a very diverse component of the Australian oribatid fauna, especially in Eucalyptus woodland. The taxonomic background and morphology of Scapheremaeus were reviewed in detail by Colloff (2009), who also proposed a species-group classification and world-wide catalogue of the genus Scapheremaeus. Unidentified specimens from previously unexplored areas probably represent further undescribed species (for example Majer et al., 2013)

General References

Adolphson, H. & Kinnear, A. 2008. Acari (mite) assemblages under plantations of bluegum, Eucalyptus globulus, in southwestern Australia. Pedobiologia 51: 427–437

Colloff, M.J. 2009. Comparative morphology and species-groups of the oribatid mite genus Scapheremaeus (Acari: Oribatida: Cymbaeremaeidae), with new species from South Australia. Zootaxa 2213: 1–46

Colloff, M.J. & Halliday, R.B. 1998. Oribatid Mites: A Catalogue of the Australian Genera and Species. Melbourne : CSIRO Publications.

Majer, J.D., Callan, S.K., Edwards, K., Gunawardene, N.R. & Taylor, C.K. 2013. Baseline survey of the terrestrial invertebrate fauna of Barrow Island. Records of the Western Australian Museum, Supplement 83: 13-112.

O'Dowd, D.J., Brew, C.R., Christophel, D.C. & Norton, R.A. 1991. Mite-plant associations from the Eocene of southern Australia. Science (Washington, D.C.) 252: 99-101

Proctor, H.C., Montgomery, K.M., Rosen, K.E. & Kitching, R.L. 2002. Are tree trunks habitats or highways? A comparison of oribatid mite assemblages from hoop-pine bark and litter. Australian Journal of Entomology 41: 294–299

Walter, D.E. 1995. Dancing on the head of a pin: mites in the rainforest canopy. pp. 49-53 in M.S. Harvey (ed.). Australasian Spiders and their Relatives: Papers Honouring Barbara York Main. Records of the Western Australian Museum 52(Supplement)

Walter, D.E. 1999. Living on leaves: adaptations of Australian rainforest mites. pp. 73–78 in Needham, G.R., Mitchell, R., Horn, D.J. & Welbourn, W.C. Acarology IX. Volume 2. Symposia. Columbus, Ohio : Ohio Biological Survey.

Walter, D.E., O'Dowd, D. & Barnes, V. 1994. The forgotten arthropods: Foliar mites in the forest canopy. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 36: 221-226

Walter, D.E. & Behan-Pelletier, V.M. 1993. Systematics and ecology of Adhaesozetes polyphyllos sp. nov. (Acari: Oribatida: Licneremaeoidea), a leaf-inhabiting mite from Australian rainforests. Canadian Journal of Zoology 71: 1024-1040

Walter, D.E. & O'Dowd, D.J. 1992. Leaf morphology and predators: Effect of leaf domatia on the abundance of predatory mites (Acari : Phytoseiidae). Environmental Entomology 21: 478-484

History of changes