Bee Mites : Acari : Acariformes : Trombidiformes
Family Ereynetidae Oudemans, 1931
Type genus Ereynetes Berlese, 1883
Material (show database records).
General Description. This family includes 29 genera and 180 species grouped in three subfamilies (Kethley, 1982; Zhang et al., 2011). Species of Erynetinae (Ereynetes) are free-living predators in mosses, lichens, leaf litter, and under bark. Two species of Ereynetes were found in bee nests but it is not clear if these associations are obligate. Other ereynetines, Riccardoella Berlese, 1923, are obligate pulmonary parasites of terrestrial slugs, or in the genus Hydranetes, subelytral parasites of aquatic beetles. All stages, except the prelarva, are mobile in Ereynetinae. The subfamily Lawrencarinae includes parasites of the nasal passages of frogs and toads. The tritonymph was thought to be missing in the Lawrencarinae (Fain, 1972). The missing nymph of Lawrencarinae was, however, discovered later (André and Fain, 2000). The subfamily Speleognathinae contains nasal parasites of birds and mammals. In the speleognathine development, the three nymphal stages are calyptostatic, without any structures other than pharynx and the larva gives rise to the adult (Fain, 1972).
Species found in association with bees.
References
Zhang, Z.-Q., Q.-H. Fan, V. Pesic, H. Smit, A. V. Bochkov, A. A. Khaustov, A. Baker, A. Wohltmann, T. Wen, J. W. Amrine, P. Beron, J. Lin, G. Gabrys & R. Husband. 2011. Order Trombidiformes Reuter, 1909 Zootaxa.3148: 129-138.
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Created: April 26, 2012
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