The Holothyrida are a small order of mites in the superorder Parasitiformes. No fossils are known. With body lengths of more than 2 mm (332 in) they are relatively large mites, with a heavily sclerotized body. It is divided into three families, Allothyridae, Holothyridae, and Neothyridae. In a 1998 experimental study, members of the family Allothyridae were found to ignore living animals but readily fed on the body fluids of dead arthropods, making them scavengers.[1]

Holothyrida
Sternothyrus braueri, a member of Holothyridae
Underside of male (left) and female (right) of Diplothyrus lecorrei (Neothyridae)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Superorder: Parasitiformes
Order: Holothyrida
Families

See text.

Diversity
10 genera, > 25 species

The order has a distribution largely confined to former Gondwanan landmasses. They are the sister group to Ixodida (ticks).[2]

Systematics edit

Allothyridae edit

Allothyridae van der Hammen, 1972Australia, New Zealand

Holothyridae edit

Holothyridae Thorell, 1882 Sri Lanka, Indian Ocean islands, New Guinea, New Caledonia

Neothyridae edit

Neothyridae Lehtinen, 1981 Northern South America and the Caribbean

Footnotes edit

  1. ^ Walter, David Evans; Proctor, Heather C. (1998). "Feeding behaviour and phylogeny: observations on early derivative Acari". Experimental and Applied Acarology. 22 (1): 39–50. doi:10.1023/A:1006033407957.
  2. ^ Dobson, Susan J.; Barker, Stephen C. (1999). "Phylogeny of the Hard Ticks (Ixodidae) Inferred from 18S rRNA Indicates That the GenusAponommaIs Paraphyletic". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 11 (2): 288–295. doi:10.1006/mpev.1998.0565.

References edit

  • Joel Hallan's Biology Catalog: Holothyrida
  • Bruce Halliday: Order Holothyrida
  • Lehtinen, Pekka T. (1995): Revision of the old world Holothyridae (Arachnida : Anactinotrichida : Holothyrina). Invertebrate Taxonomy 9(4): 767-826. doi:10.1071/IT9950767