Unplaced family in Suborder: Parasitengona
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The Calyptostomatidae are a small family of mites that contains six species in two genera. Most records to date are from western Europe as well as the northern parts of the U.S.A. and Canada. Only a few handful of records are from South America, South-East Asia and Oceania. And, two of the six species were only recently discovered, and described, in Iran.
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The larvae of the various species are ectoparasites on adult Crane Flies whereas the later active stages prey on the larvae of miscellaneous species of ordinary flies (Order: Diptera). The various life stages of calyptostomatid mites are well described but other than that the combined knowledge on the Calyptostomatidae is fairly limited and most sightings are not identified to species level.
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The Australian records of species in this family tend to be concentrated around Sydney and Melbourne with a few records from Tasmania, Perth, Brisbane and Cairns. This suggests that the Family: Calyptostomatidae is not native to Australia. The fact that they are ectoparasites on flies does however mean that they may well be found locally.
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Family: Calyptostomatidae
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Calyptostoma sp.
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Taxonomy:
Phylum: Arthropoda (Arthropods)
> Subphylum: Chelicerata (Chelicerates)
> Class: Arachnida (Arachnids)
> Subclass: Acari (Mites and Ticks)
> Superorder: Acariformes
> Order: Trombidiformes
> Suborder: Parasitengona (Velvet Mites, Water Mites, Chiggers and Allies)
> Unplaced Family: Calyptostomatidae
> Genus: Calyptostoma
> Species: ?
References and links:
> Krantz, G.W. and vWalter, D.E., (2009). ‘A manual of acarology, 3rd Ed.’ Texas Tech University Press, 2009 ISBN: 0-8967-2620-7
> Masoumi, H., Saboori, A., Seiedy, M., (2020). ‘Descriptions of all active instars of a new species of Calyptostoma (Trombidiformes: Calyptostomatidae) from Iran.’ Systematic and Applied Acarology, Vol. 25, No. 10, 2020. DOI: https://doi.org/10.11158/saa.25.10.7
> Saboori, A., Soukhtsaraii, N., Yazdanian, M. and Golpayegani. A.Z., (2012). ‘Fourth larval species of Calyptostoma (Acari: Prostigmata: Calyptostomatidae)’ Systematic and Applied Acarology 17(1), 36-44, (29 February 2012). https://doi.org/10.11158/saa.17.1.8
https://bie.ala.org.au/species/https://biodiversity.org.au/afd/taxa/4cd2d225-4aab-4c99-92a4-0356e02a1586#overview
https://www.gbif.org/species/3252736
> Krantz, G.W. and vWalter, D.E., (2009). ‘A manual of acarology, 3rd Ed.’ Texas Tech University Press, 2009 ISBN: 0-8967-2620-7
> Masoumi, H., Saboori, A., Seiedy, M., (2020). ‘Descriptions of all active instars of a new species of Calyptostoma (Trombidiformes: Calyptostomatidae) from Iran.’ Systematic and Applied Acarology, Vol. 25, No. 10, 2020. DOI: https://doi.org/10.11158/saa.25.10.7
> Saboori, A., Soukhtsaraii, N., Yazdanian, M. and Golpayegani. A.Z., (2012). ‘Fourth larval species of Calyptostoma (Acari: Prostigmata: Calyptostomatidae)’ Systematic and Applied Acarology 17(1), 36-44, (29 February 2012). https://doi.org/10.11158/saa.17.1.8
https://bie.ala.org.au/species/https://biodiversity.org.au/afd/taxa/4cd2d225-4aab-4c99-92a4-0356e02a1586#overview
https://www.gbif.org/species/3252736
Photographic Contributions: