The family Ameroseiidae is one of the three families of mites under the superfamily
Ascoidea. There are about 12 genera and more than 130 described species in Ameroseiidae.
[
][
][
][
] The family has a worldwide distribution.
Description
Ameroseiidae can be recognised by: a well-sclerotised and often strongly ornamented dorsal shield; usually 27-30 pairs of
setae
In biology, setae (singular seta ; from the Latin word for "bristle") are any of a number of different bristle- or hair-like structures on living organisms.
Animal setae
Protostomes
Annelid setae are stiff bristles present on the body. Th ...
on the dorsal shield and setae ''J5'' always absent; the sternal shield often reduced to 2 pairs of setae with ''st3'' on shield or on platelets; the corniculi often toothed; the
chelicerae
The chelicerae () are the mouthparts of the subphylum Chelicerata, an arthropod group that includes arachnids, horseshoe crabs, and sea spiders. Commonly referred to as "jaws", chelicerae may be shaped as either articulated fangs, or similarly ...
sometimes with a membranous lobe; and the tectum usually simple, smoothly (rarely toothed) triangular or weakly to strongly mucronate.
Leg
chaetotaxy
Chaetotaxy is the arrangement of bristles (macrochaetae) on an arthropod or annelid, or taxonomy based on their position and size. For example, it is important in Diptera, in which group it was formalised by Ernst August Girschner. The term chaeto ...
- the arrangements of setae on the legs - varies among species and genera, making this feature useful for classification.
Ecology
Ameroseiids occur in many habitats including forest litter, garden
mulch
A mulch is a layer of material applied to the surface of soil. Reasons for applying mulch include conservation of soil moisture, improving fertility and health of the soil, reducing weed growth and enhancing the visual appeal of the area.
A m ...
, dead wood and associated fungi, flowers, animal nests,
tree hollows
A tree hollow or tree hole is a semi-enclosed cavity which has naturally formed in the trunk or branch of a tree. They are found mainly in old trees, whether living or not. Hollows form in many species of trees, and are a prominent feature of nat ...
, humid soils and various anthropogenic structures (e.g. houses, offices, farms, granaries). Unlike most mesostigmatans, they typically feed on non-animal foods such as fungi. Some species feed on pollen and nectar, and these are the ones associated with flowers and flower-feeding animals.
One study looking at the ameroseiids of
Slovakia
Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...
(27 species total) found that eight species were edaphic (associated with soils, usually wet soils), another eight species were
saproxylic (in dead wood and associated fungi), two species were saprophilous (in dunghills, excrements and compost heaps), eight species were aerial (spread around by air currents, allowing them to colonise ephemeral and scattered habitats), and one species was insecticolous (associated with insects, in this case
European honey bee
The western honey bee or European honey bee (''Apis mellifera'') is the most common of the 7–12 species of honey bees worldwide. The genus name ''Apis'' is Latin for "bee", and ''mellifera'' is the Latin for "honey-bearing" or "honey carrying", ...
).
Some species of Ameroseiidae are
phoretic
Phoresis or phoresy is a non-permanent, commensalistic interaction in which one organism (a phoront or phoretic) attaches itself to another (the host) solely for the purpose of travel. Phoresis has been observed directly in ticks and mites s ...
on insects or other animals, riding these to disperse to new habitats. Others are non-phoretic and disperse using air currents, as noted above.
Genera
These 12 genera belong to the family Ameroseiidae:
* ''
Afrocypholaelaps''
Elsen, 1972
* ''
Ameroseiella''
Bregetova, 1977
* ''
Ameroseius''
Berlese, 1904
* ''
Asperolaelaps''
Womersley, 1956
* ''
Brontispalaelaps''
Womersley, 1956
* ''
Epicriopsis''
Berlese, 1916
* ''
Hattena''
Domrow, 1963
* ''
Kleemannia''
Oudemans, 1930
* ''
Neocypholaelaps''
Vitzthum, 1942
* ''
Pseudoameroseius''
Mašán 2017
* ''
Sertitympanum''
Elsen & Whitaker, 1985
* ''
Sinoseius''
Bai & Gu, 1995
References
Further reading
*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1940799
Acari families