Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer
Type: Article
Published: 2019-02-28
Page range: 1–40
Abstract views: 108
PDF downloaded: 52

The megisthanid mites (Mesostigmata: Megisthanidae) of Australia 

Queensland Museum, PO Box 3300, South Brisbane, 4101, Australia.
Acari Antennophorina Passalidae host associations taxonomy new species identification

Abstract

The Australian Megisthanidae are revised, resulting in the description of five new species from passalid beetles (Coleoptera: Passalidae) in Queensland: M. manonae sp. nov. from Mastachilus australasicus; M. simoneae sp. nov. from Mastachilus polyphyllus; M. southcotti sp. nov. from Aulacocyclus fracticornis; M. womersleyi sp. nov. from Protomocoelus australis; and M. zachariei sp. nov. from Aulacocyclus kaupii. Megisthanus womersleyi is also based on material from Misima Island, Papua New Guinea, originally identified as Megisthanus doreianus Thorell, 1882. Megisthanus modestus Berlese, 1910, is redescribed based on material from Pharochilus spp. collected from Canberra, New South Wales, Queensland and Tasmania. The Papua New Guinean species Mastachilus papuanus Womersley, 1937 is diagnosed and discussed in relation to the other species from New Guinea. Additional collections of Megisthanus leviathanicus Seeman, 2017 and M. thorelli Womersley, 1937 are also reported. A genus description and a key to the eight Australian species of Megisthanus are provided.

 

References

  1. Ács, A., Sutak, A. & Konstchán, J. (2015) New records of macrochelid mites and description of a new phoretic species (Acari: Mesostigmata: Macrochelidae) from Greece. Acarologia, 56, 63–71.

    https://doi.org/10.1051/acarologia/20162188

    Banks, N. (1904) The Arachnida of Florida. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences Philadelphia, 56, 120–147. pls. 2.

    Berlese, A. (1910) Brevi diagnosi di generi e specie nouvi di Acari. Redia, 6, 346–388.

    Boisduval, J.B.A.D. de (1935) Faune entomologique de l’Ocean Pacifique, Deuxième Partie. Coléoptères et autres Ordres. In: Voyage de Dècouvertes de l’Astrolabe exécuté par ordre du Roi, pendant les années 1825182718281829, sous le commandement de M.J. Dumont d’Urville. Tastu: Paris. pp. i–viii, 1–716, pls. 1–12.

    Bourdeau-Gorirossi, F. (1989) More reflections on the gnathosoma of the Mesostigmata. Bulletin de l’Institut royal des sciences naturelles de Belgique, 58, 191–207.

    Butler, L. & Hunter, P.E. (1968) Redescription of Megisthanus floridanus with observations on its biology (Acarina: Megisthanidae). Florida Entomologist, 51, 187–197.

    https://doi.org/10.11158/saa.23.6.7

    Cómbita-Heredia, O., Quintero-Gutiérrez, E.J. & Klompen, H. (2018) Ontogeny of Megalolaelaps colossus sp. nov. (Acari: Megalolaelapidae), an enigmatic symbiont of dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) in Colombia. Systematic and Applied Acarology, 23, 1102–1124.

    https://doi.org/10.11158/saa.23.6.7

    Dalman, J.W. in Schönherr, C.J. (1817) Appendix ad C.J. Schönherr Synonymiam Insectorum Insectorum. Vol. 1, part 3. Sistens descriptions novarum specierum. Lewerentziana: Scaris. 266 pp.

    Dibb, J.R. (1938) Synopsis of Australian Passalidae (Coleoptera). Transactions of the Royal Entomological Society of London, 87, 103–124.

    https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2311.1938.tb00092.x

    Elzinga, R.J. (1993) Larvamimidae, a new family of mites (Acari: Dermanyssoidea) associated with army ants. Acarologia, 34, 95–103.

    Evans, G.O. (1963a) Observations on the chaetotaxy of the legs in the free-living Gamasina (Acari: Mesostigmata). Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History), Zoology, 10, 277–303.

    Evans, G.O. (1963b) Some observations on the chaetotaxy of the pedipalps in the Mesostigmata (Acari). Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Series 13, 69, 513–527.

    https://doi.org/10.1080/00222936308651393

    Gorirossi, F. & Wharton, G. (1953) The anatomy of the feeding apparatus of Megisthanus floridanus Banks, 1904, a large mesostigmatid mite. The American Midland Naturalist, 50, 433–447.

    https://doi.org/10.2307/2422103

    Gravely, F.H. (1914) An account of the Oriental Passalidae (Coleoptera), based primarily on the collection in the Indian Museum. Memoirs of the Indian Museum, 3, 177–353.

    https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.9406

    Hope, F.W. & Westwood, J.O. (1845) A Catalogue of the Lucanoid Coleoptera in the Collection of the Rev. F.W. Hope, M.A., F.R.S., etc., Together with Descriptions of the New Species Therein Contained. J.C. Bridgewater: London. pp. 1–31.

    Hunter, P.E. & Costa, M. (1970) Two new African species of Megisthanus Thorell (Mesostigmata: Megisthanidae). The Florida Entomologist, 43, 233–240.

    https://doi.org/10.2307/3493194

    Karg, W. (1997) Neue Raubmilbenarten der Antennophorina Berlese, 1892 (Acarina, Parasitiformes), phoretic on passalid beetles. Mitteilungen aus dem Zoologischen Museum in Berlin, 73, 51–61.

    Kontschán, J. (2006) Uropodina (Acari: Mesostigmata) species from Angola. Acta Zoologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae, 52, 1–20.

    Kontschán, J. (2011) Notes on the family Macrodinychidae (Acari: Uropodina) with description of two new species. Journal of Natural History, 45, 1619–1636.

    https://doi.org/10.1080/00222933.2011.559600

    Kramer, P. (1894) Ueber zwei von Herrn Dr. F. Stuhlmann in Ostafrika gesammelte. Gamasiden. Jahrbuch der Hamburgischen wissenschaftlichen Anstalten, 12, 55–66. pl. 1.

    Kuwert, A.F. (1891) Systematische Übersicht der Passaliden-Arten und Gattungen. Deutsche Entomologische Zeitschrift, 1891, 161–192.

    Kuwert A.F. (1898) Die Passaliden dichotomisch bearbeitet. Novitates Zoologicae, 5, 259–349.

    https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.part.1649

    Macleay, W.S. (1826) Annulosa. Catalogue of insects, collected by Captain King, R.N. In: King, P.P. (Ed.), Narrative of a Survey of the Intertropical and Western Coasts of Australia Performed Between the Years 1818 and 1822. Vol. 2, Appendix B, pp. 438–469, pl. B.

    Macleay, W.J. (1871) Notes on a collection of insects from Gayndah (continued). Transactions of the Entomological Society of New South Wales, 2, 159–205.

    Mjöberg, E.G. (1917) Results of Dr. E. Mjöberg’s Swedish scientific expeditions to Australia 1910–1913. 14. Cetonidae, Rutelidae, Passalidae, Chrysomelidae: subfam. Sagrinae, Cassidinae, Hispinae. Arkiv för Zoologi, 11, 1–19.

    Moritz, C., Hoskin, C., Graham, C.H., Hugall, A. & Moussalli, A. (2005) Historical biogeography, diversity and conservation of Australia's tropical rainforest herpetofauna. In: Purvis, A., Gittleman, J.L. & Brooks, T. (Eds.), Phylogeny and Conservation. Conservation Biology, 10. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, pp. 243–264.

    https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511614927.011

    Oudemans, A.C. (1905) Acarologische Aanteekeningen XVII. Entomologische Berichten, 1, 222–226.

    https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.part.1124

    Özbek, H.H. & Bal, D.A. (2013) Three new species of the genus Nothrholaspis (Acari: Macrochelidae) from the Kelkit Valley, Turkey. Zootaxa, 3635, 40–50.

    https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3635.1.4

    Percheron, A. (1841) Révision critique et supplément à la Monographie du genre Passale. Revue et Magasin de Zoologie, Paris, 11, 1–48.

    Seeman, O.D. (2002) Mites and Passalid Beetles: Diversity, Taxonomy and Biogeography. PhD thesis. The University of Queensland: Brisbane, Australia.

    Seeman, O.D. (2017) Megisthanus leviathanicus sp. nov. (Parasitiformes: Megisthanidae), the largest known Mesostigmata, a symbiont of the beetle Mastachilus australasicus (Coleoptera: Passalidae). International Journal of Acarology, 42, 263–285.

    https://doi.org/10.1080/01647954.2017.1293733

    Seeman, O.D. & Nahrung, H.F. (2018) In short or long-term relationships, size does matter: body size patterns in the Mesostigmata (Acari: Parasitiformes). International Journal of Acarology.

    https://doi.org/10.1080/01647954.2018.1530299

    Stoll, O. (1893) Arachnida Acarides. Biologia Centrali-Americana: Zoology, Botany and Archaeology (Ed: F.D. Godman & O. Salvin). xxi + 55 pp. 21 pls.

    Stoll, O. (1897) Zur Zoogeographie der Landbewohnenden Wirbellosen. II. Teil. R. Friedländer & Sohn: Berlin, 289–316 pp.

    Thorell, T. (1882) Descrizione di alcuni Arachnidi inferiori dell’Archipelago Malese. Annali del Museo civico di storia natural di Genova, 18, 21–69. pls. 6.

    Warburton, C. (1926) On Megisthanus jacobsoni n.sp. (Acari, Gamasoidea) parasitic on a passalid beetle from Sumatra. Parasitology, 18, 51–54.

    https://doi.org/10.1017/S0031182000004960

    Womersley, H. (1937) Australian Acarina of the genus Megisthanus Thorell. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia, 61, 175–180.