Family UROPODIDAE Kramer, 1881
Introduction
It is very difficult to generalise about the generic composition and biology of the family Uropodidae, because taxonomic concepts of the family and its constituent genera are extremely unstable. The family Uropodidae and the genus Uropoda contain many species that will be moved into other genera and families when the group is carefully revised. Hirschmann & Wisniewski (1993) listed more than 200 species of Uropoda, which they classified into 24 species groups, as well as more than 20 unclassified species. Some of their species groups have previously been treated as genera or subgenera, and some of those genera are recognised here, such as Cilliba (Cillibidae). Karg (1989) and Mašán (2001) provided keys for the European fauna, but for the rest of the world the classification is completely unresolved. The Australian fauna includes 17 described species, all provisionally placed in the genus Uropoda, except for one species in the endemic genus Capricornella. Banks (1916) described 11 of those species, but his descriptions and illustrations are inadequate by modern standards, and those species can not be recognised until they are re-described.
Unidentified species of Uropodidae or Uropodoidea have been reported from Australia many times, for example by Longstaff et al. (1999), Walter (1995, 1999), Adolphson & Kinnear (2008), Callan et al. (2011), Proctor et al. (2011), Perdomo et al. (2012), Beaulieu (2012), Majer et al. (2013), Eberhard et al. (2014) and Manwaring et al. (2018). The unidentified species of "Uropodidae" referred to in these and other papers probably belong a number of different families and genera.
Hull (1918) described Uropoda sartor from England and West Australia. However, it seems unlikely that this is actually an Australian species. All the specimens of the 150 species dealt with by Hull (1918) are from Great Britain and Ireland, with this single remarkable exception. It is more likely that Hull's West Australia is a typographical error for West Allendale, a locality name that occurs many times in Hull's paper. The description of U. sartor is accompanied by the notation 66, 67. Hull explains that this refers to the localities from which the species was collected. Locality 66 is Durham (including Chopwell), and locality 67 is West Allendale. Also, Hull habitually gave credit for specimens collected by people other than himself. No such acknowledgement accompanies the description of U. sartor, as it certainly would have if the material had been sent to him from Australia.
Excluded Taxa
- Misidentifications
Uropodidae: Uropoda sartor Hull, 1918 — Hull, J.E. 1918. Terrestrial Acari of the Tyne Province. Transactions of the Natural History Society of Northumberland, Durham, and Newcastle-upon-Tyne 5: 13-88 pls I-III
General References
Adolphson, H. & Kinnear, A. 2008. Acari (mite) assemblages under plantations of bluegum, Eucalyptus globulus, in southwestern Australia. Pedobiologia 51: 427–437
Banks, N. 1916. Acarians from Australian and Tasmanian ants and ant-nests. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia 40: 224-240 pls XXIII-XXX
Beaulieu, F. 2012. Saproxyly in predatory mites? Mesostigmata in decaying log habitats versus litter in a wet eucalypt forest, Tasmania, Australia. International Journal of Acarology 38: 313–323
Callan, S.K., Majer, J.D., Edwards, K. & Moro, D. 2011. Documenting the terrestrial invertebrate fauna of Barrow Island, Western Australia. Australian Journal of Entomology 50: 323–343
Eberhard, S.M., Smith, G.B., Gibian, M.M., Smith, H.M. & Gray, M.R. 2014. Invertebrate cave fauna of Jenolan. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 136: 35-67.
Hirschmann, W. & Wisniewski, J. 1993. Acari Parasitiformes. Supercohors Atrichopygidiina Hirschmann 1975. Die Uropodiden der Erde. Acarologie. Schriftenreihe für Vergleichende Milbenkunde 40: 1-466
Hull, J.E. 1918. Terrestrial Acari of the Tyne Province. Transactions of the Natural History Society of Northumberland, Durham, and Newcastle-upon-Tyne 5: 13-88 pls I-III
Karg, W. 1989. Acari (Acarina), Milben, Unterordnung Parasitiformes (Anactinochaeta). Uropodina Kramer, Schildkrötenmilben. Die Tierwelt Deutschlands und der angrenzenden Meeresteile 67: 1–203
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.
Manwaring, M., Wallace, H.M. & Weaver, H.J. 2018. Effects of a mulch layer on the assemblage and abundance of mesostigmatan mites and other arthropods in the soil of a sugarcane agro‑ecosystem in Australia. Experimental and Applied Acarology 74: 291-300.
Mašán, P. 2001. Mites of the Cohort Uropodina (Acarina, Mesostigmata) in Slovakia. Annotationes Zoologicae et Botanicae, Bratislava 223: 1–320
Perdomo, G., Evans, A., Maraun, M., Sunnucks, P. & Thompson, R. 2012. Mouthpart morphology and trophic position of microarthropods from soils and mosses are strongly correlated. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 53: 56–63
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
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.
History of changes
| Published | As part of group | Action Date | Action Type | Compiler(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 05-Dec-2019 | Acari | 20-Sep-2021 | MODIFIED | Dr Bruce Halliday |
| 01-May-2017 | Acari | 20-Sep-2021 | MODIFIED | Dr Bruce Halliday |
| 07-May-2013 | 20-Sep-2021 | MODIFIED | ||
| 06-Nov-2011 | 06-Nov-2011 | MOVED | ||
| 08-Aug-2010 | 08-Aug-2010 | MOVED | ||
| 09-Jul-2010 | 09-Jul-2010 | ADDED | ||
| 08-Jul-2010 | MODIFIED |