Login
Login

Histiostomatidae

{{Short description|Family of mites}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| fossil_range = {{Fossil range|Palaeogene|present}}

| image = Sarraceniopus gibsoni 1.jpg

| image_caption = Ventral view of Sarraceniopus gibsoni, the pitcher plant mite, which is found within the pitcher leaves of Sarracenia purpurea

| taxon = Histiostomatidae

| authority = Berlese, 1897

}}

Histiostomatidae is a family of mites in the clade Astigmata.{{cite thesis |last=O'Connor |first=Barry M. |year=1981 |title=A systematic revision of the family-group taxa in the non-psoroptid Astigmata (Acari, Acariformes) |degree=Ph.D. |publisher=University of Michigan}}

Description

These mites are characterized by a very small size (about 600–900 μm in length) and a close association to arthropods, mainly insects. A morphologically specialized instar, the deutonymph (earlier "hypopus"), is adapted to attach to arthropods for phoretic transport from one habitat to another. The mites use various insect groups as phoretic carriers{{Cite journal |last= Hughes |first=R. D. |last2=Jackson |first2=C. G. |date=1958 |title=A review of the Anoetidae (Acari) |journal=Virginia Journal of Science |volume=9 |pages=5–198}} such as beetles, flies and Hymenoptera (ants, bees and wasps). In all species, the digitus mobilis of the chelicera is reduced to small rests, and the distal pedipalp article is connected to a more or less complex membranous structure. These mouthpart modifications form an organ to feed on bacteria.{{Cite thesis |last= Wirth |first=Stefan |title=Phylogeny, biology and character transformations of the Histiostomatidae (Acari, Astigmata) |degree=Ph.D. |publisher=Freie Universität Berlin |url=http://www.diss.fu-berlin.de/diss/receive/FUDISS_thesis_000000001415 |doi=10.17169/refubium-10576 |year=2004}}

Habitats colonized by these mites include animal dung, compost,{{Cite journal |last= Scheucher |first=R. |date=1957 |title=Systematik und Ökologie der deutschen Anoetinen |journal=Beiträge zur Systematik und Ökologie mitteleuropäischer Acarina |language=German |volume=1 |pages=233–384}} water-filled tree hollows and the fluids of Nepenthes and Sarracenia pitcher plants.{{Cite journal |last=Fashing |first=Norman J |date=26 February 2002 |title=Nepenthacarus , a new genus of Histiostomatidae (Acari: Astigmata) inhabiting the pitchers of Nepenthes mirabilis (Lour.) Druce in Far North Queensland, Australia |url=http://njfash.people.wm.edu/Nepenthacarus.pdf |journal=Australian Journal of Entomology |language=en |volume=41 |issue=1 |pages=7–17 |doi=10.1046/j.1440-6055.2002.00263.x |issn=1326-6756}}

Genera

The family contains the following genera:{{Cite web |title=Histiostomatidae Berlese, 1897 |url=https://insects.tamu.edu/research/collection/hallan/acari/Histiostomatidae.txt |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041116184145/http://insects.tamu.edu/research/collection/hallan/acari/Histiostomatidae.txt |archive-date=November 16, 2004 |access-date=May 4, 2013 |website=Joel Hallan's Biology Catalog |publisher=Texas A&M University}}

{{div col|colwidth=21em}}

{{div col end}}

References

{{Reflist|32em}}

{{Wikispecies}}

{{Acari}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q177498}}

Category:Sarcoptiformes

Category:Acari families