Sarcoptiform  Mites  -  Order:   Sarcoptiformes
      As we progress along the arrangement of the taxons pertaining to mites and ticks, unfortunately we do not gain more certainty with regards to the proper order of things.    Having accepted the Sarcoptiformes as one of two orders (rather than one of three) we are now faced with a similar decision again; two or three suborders.   Some sources (including the 'Catalogue of Life') still include the Astigmata as a suborder.  Other sources may still have it as an order in its own right but the generally accepted position at present, appears to have them placed as a parvorder in the Suborder: Desmonomata within the Suborder: Oribatida.   The main issue with higher classification of the Mites appears to be the fact that there is no singular feature or trait that can be used to set them apart.  This strategy was tried in the early years of acarology but as more and more species were discovered, the sheer variety among them overwhelmed the simple, earlier systems. 
​      Sarcoptiformans are also known as 'chewing mites.  They are the smaller of the two orders but it must be stated that on average the mites are smaller too and often only seen with the use of a microscope.  They are by far the most numerous arthropods encountered in the upper layers of the soil and in organic detritus.  Many feed on the detritus itself, on fungi, microbes and other small invertebrates such as tardigrades, nematodes and rotifers as well as other smaller species of mites.  A small group sarcoptiformans feeds specifically on healthy plant tissue but there are also many that feed on stored products such as cereal grains and other foodstuffs,  More than a few are 'obligate parasites' and live exclusively on other organisms in which they may cause debilitiating diseases such as scabies and mange.  And than there are the Endeostigmata, a small suborder of some 120+ species in 10 families that form galls on living plant tissue. 

​      As of April, 2024 the Order: Sarcoptiformes contains 14,621 species in 277 families however, obtaining matching numbers from different sources seems impossible.  For instance,  the report on the taxon at the "Integrated Taxonomic Information System' or 'ITIS' website states 15,256 species in 252 families.  Again, as of April, 2024.   The one thing we can be fairly certain of is that with only about 1 in 20 mites known to science, there are  many, many more species yet to be discovered.
The 'Australian Faunal Directory' was last updated in September 2021 and at that time it stated there were 921 described sarcoptiform species from 145 families recorded from Australia.  If the claim of only 5 % of all mites being known to science at present than, a national total of 20,000 species seems probable.  
References  and  links:

>      Reuter, E.,  (1909).  ‘Zur Morphologie und Ontogenie der Acariden.’  Druckerei der Finnishen Literaturgesellschaft,  Helsingfors (Helsinki),  Finland.

      https://www.catalogueoflife.org/data/taxon/4CP
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obligate_parasite
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarcoptiformes
      https://inaturalist.ala.org.au/taxa/152845-Astigmata
      https://www.gbif.org/species/542
      https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=83538#null

Header photo:

Note:  Copyright rules vary.  Please contact the editor prior to using any of the images published on this site.