Family ALGOPHAGIDAE Fain, 1974

Museums

Regional Maps

• Algophaginae Fain, A. 1974. Acariens récoltés par le Dr. J. Travé aux iles subantarctiques. I. Familles Saproglyphidae et Hyadesidae (Astigmates). Acarologia 16: 684-708.

Introduction

Algophagidae is a small family of aquatic and semi-aquatic mites that inhabit wet substrates such as water-filled tree holes, submerged plants in pools and rivers, and sap flows, where they feed on algae and lichens (OConnor 2009). Unidentified species and genera of Algophagidae were recorded from Australia by OConnor (1982), Kitching (1987) and Fashing (1998). These and other records of unidentified Algophagidae have been consolidated in the descriptions of two species in the only known Australian genus, Lamingtonacarus, by Fashing et al. (2000).

General References

Fashing, N.J. 1998. Functional morphology as an aid in determining trophic behaviour: the placement of astigmatic mites in food webs of water-filled tree-hole communities. Experimental and Applied Acarology 22: 435-453

Fashing, N.J., OConnor, B.M. & Kitching, R.L. 2000. Lamingtonacarus, a new genus of Algophagidae (Acari: Astigmata) from water-filled treeholes in Queensland, Australia. Invertebrate Taxonomy 14: 591–606

Kitching, R.L. 1987. Spatial and temporal variation in food webs in water-filled tree holes. Oikos 48: 280–288

OConnor, B.M. 1982. Astigmata. pp. 146-169 in Parker, S.P. (ed.). Synopsis and Classification of Living Organisms. New York : McGraw-Hill Vol. 2.

OConnor, B.M. 2009. Cohort Astigmatina. pp. 565–657 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