The Ixodidae are the family of hard ticks or scale ticks, one of the three families of ticks, consisting of over 700 species. They are known as 'hard ticks' because they have a scutum or hard shield, which the other major family of ticks, the 'soft ticks' (Argasidae), lack. They are ectoparasites of a wide range of host species, and some are vectors of pathogens that can cause human disease.
The Argasidae are the family of soft ticks, one of the three families of ticks. The family contains 193 species, although the composition of the genera is less certain, and more study is needed before the genera can become stable. The currently accepted genera are Antricola, Argas, Nothoaspis, Ornithodoros, and Otobius. The Argasidae are very common in South Asia, along with 96 other species of ticks, making South Asia the region with the highest biodiversity of ticks worldwide. Soft ticks are resistant to desiccation and can live for several years in arid conditions.
Mecoptera is an order of insects in the superorder Endopterygota with about six hundred species in nine families worldwide. Mecopterans are sometimes called scorpionflies after their largest family, Panorpidae, in which the males have enlarged genitals raised over the body that look similar to the stingers of scorpions, and long beaklike rostra. The Bittacidae, or hangingflies, are another prominent family and are known for their elaborate mating rituals, in which females choose mates based on the quality of gift prey offered to them by the males. A smaller group is the snow scorpionflies, family Boreidae, adults of which are sometimes seen walking on snowfields. In contrast, the majority of species in the order inhabit moist environments in tropical locations.
Apteropanorpidae is a family of wingless scorpionflies containing a single genus, Apteropanorpa, with four named species. These species, also called Tasmanian snow scorpionflies, are found in moss in Tasmania and southern Australia. The adults are generalised predators. The larvae live in moss and are locally common.
Parasitiformes are a superorder of Arachnids, constituting one of the two major groups of mites, alongside Acariformes. Parasitiformes has, at times, been classified at the rank of order or suborder.
Nannochoristidae is a family of scorpionflies with many unusual traits. It is a tiny, relict family with a single extant genus, Nannochorista, with eight species occurring in New Zealand, southeastern Australia, Tasmania, Argentina and Chile. Due to the group's distinctiveness from other scorpionflies, it is sometimes placed in its own order, the Nannomecoptera. Some studies have placed them as the closest living relatives of fleas. Most mecopteran larvae are eruciform, or shaped like caterpillars. Nannochoristid larvae, however, are elateriform, and have elongated and slender bodies. The larvae are aquatic, which is unique among mecopterans. The larvae are predatory, hunting on the beds of shallow streams, primarily on the larvae of aquatic Diptera like chironomids.
Opilioacaridae is the sole family of mites in the order Opilioacarida, made up of about 13 genera. The mites of this family are rare, large mites, and are widely considered primitive, as they retain six pairs of eyes, and abdominal segmentation. They have historically been considered separate from other mites belonging to Acariformes and Parasitiformes, but are now generally considered a subgroup of Parasitiformes based on molecular phylogenetics.
Bittacidae is a family of scorpionflies commonly called hangingflies or hanging scorpionflies.
Oribatida, also known as oribatid mites, moss mites or beetle mites, are an order of mites, in the "chewing Acariformes" clade Sarcoptiformes. They range in size from 0.2 to 1.4 millimetres. There are currently 12,000 species that have been identified, but researchers estimate that there may be anywhere from 60,000 to 120,000 total species. Oribatid mites are by far the most prevalent of all arthropods in forest soils, and are essential for breaking down organic detritus and distributing fungi.
Asperdaphne tasmanica is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Raphitomidae.
Famelica tasmanica is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Raphitomidae.
The Trombidiformes are a large, diverse order of mites.
Dermanyssoidea is a superfamily of mites, including most of the mites which parasitise vertebrates.
Pachylaelapidae is a family of mites in the order Mesostigmata. There are about 16 genera and more than 200 described species in Pachylaelapidae.
Ascidae is a family of mites in the order Mesostigmata.
Adelotremus leptus is a species of combtooth blenny native to the Red Sea where it is only known from Marsa el At, Egypt. It was caught at a depth of 15 metres (49 ft). It has a slender body. The first specimen, a female, measured 3.54 centimetres (1.39 in) SL, and others have been recorded since. Until 2017 this species was considered to be the only species in the monotypic genus Adelotremus. In 2017 a second species, Adelotremus deloachi was described from Indonesia.
Leptus pozzoicus is a species of mite. It is named after Porto Pozzo, near Santa Teresa Gallura, the place where the species was first collected. L. pozzoicus belongs to the group of species with two palpgenualae, and that have over four setae between coxalae II and III. It differs from its cogenerate species by various length measurements.
Blattisociidae is a family of mites in the order Mesostigmata.
Glischropus bucephalus, the Indochinese thick-thumbed bat, is a species of bat in the family Vespertilionidae. The bat is found in Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam north of the Isthmus of Kra.
Archizelmiridae is an extinct family of flies, known from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. It belongs to the Sciaroidea, and has suggested to have a close relationship with Sciaridae.
