Holothyrida | |
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Sternothyrus braueri, a member of Holothyridae | |
Underside of male (left) and female (right) of Diplothyrus lecorrei (Neothyridae) | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
Class: | Arachnida |
Superorder: | Parasitiformes |
Order: | Holothyrida |
Families | |
See text. | |
Diversity | |
10 genera, > 25 species |
The Holothyrida are a small order of mites in the superorder Parasitiformes. No fossils are known. With body lengths of more than 2 mm (3⁄32 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]
The order has a distribution largely confined to former Gondwanan landmasses. They are the sister group to Ixodida (ticks). [2]
Allothyridae van der Hammen, 1972 — Australia, New Zealand
Holothyridae Thorell, 1882 Sri Lanka, Indian Ocean islands, New Guinea, New Caledonia
Neothyridae Lehtinen, 1981 Northern South America and the Caribbean
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