Home | Major Mite Taxa Home | Glossary
Parhyposomatides (Parhyposomata)
Superorder Acariformes
Order Sarcoptiformes
Suborder Oribatida
Supercohort Parhyposomatides (Parhypochthonioidea)
Common names: parhypochthonoid and gehypochthonoid oribatids
Probability of Encounter: low
Quarantine importance: No known quarantine importance.
Diagnosis. White to tan,
sac-like oribatid mites with a transverse suture between setal rows D and E
and well developed lateral opisthonotal glands.
Subcapitulum usually stenarthric and chelicerae usually visible from above; rutella well developed. Claws of adults bi- or tridactylous; palps
with 4-5 free segments. Macropyline, 3 pairs of genital papillae.
Similar taxa. The transverse
suture between rows D and E should distinguish parhypochthonioids
from oribatid immatures
Ecology & Distribution.
Parhypochthonioids can be common in dry soils, but are usually missed
because they resemble immature oribatids.
Species of Gehypochthonius species inhabit a number of dry soil types,
including dune sand. Parhypochthonius
is found in treeholes, often in high numbers.
References
Colloff M &
Halliday B. 1998. Oribatid Mites. A Catalogue of Australian Genera and Species. Monograph on Invertebrate Taxonomy Vol.
6. CSIRO Publications: Melbourne.
Gilyarov MS & Krivolutsky DA (eds) 1975.
Handbook for the Identification of Soil-inhabiting Mites, Sarcoptiformes. Zoological Institute of the Academy of
Sciences: Petrograd [In Russian]
Hunt
G, Colloff MJ, Dallwitz M, Kelly J. & Walter DE. 1998. An Interactive Key to the Oribatid mites of Australia. CSIRO Publishing,
Collingwood, Victoria.
(Compact Disk and User Guide).
Krantz GW.
1978. A Manual of Acarology. OSU Bookstores: Corvallis.
Lee DC. 1982. Sarcoptiformes
(Acari) of South Australian soils. 3. Arthronotina (Cryptostigmata). Records of the South Australian Museum 18: 327-359.
Norton RN. 1990.
Oribatida. pp. 779-803, in DL
Dindal (ed) Soil Biology Guide.
John Wiley & Sons: Brisbane.
