''Antennoseius'' is a genus of
mite
Mites are small arachnids (eight-legged arthropods). Mites span two large orders of arachnids, the Acariformes and the Parasitiformes, which were historically grouped together in the subclass Acari, but genetic analysis does not show clear e ...
s in the family
Ascidae
Ascidae is a family of mites in the order Mesostigmata.
Description
Ascidae are mites characterised by: seta ''st4'' usually on unsclerotised cuticle, peritrematic shield broadly connected to exopodal shield beside coxa IV, fixed cheliceral ...
. As of 2021, it comprised 59 species mostly in subgenera ''Antennoseius'' (34 species) and ''Vitzthumia'' (19 species), as well as six species not assigned to a subgenus.
Description
Females of ''Antennoseius'' have two distinct shields on their dorsal surface. On the ventral surface, there is a sternal shield (usually with three 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. ...
), an epigynial shield that is rounded posteriorly, and either an anal shield (with circum-anal setae) or a subtriangular ventrianal shield (bearing 1 or 2 pairs of setae in addition to the circum-anal setae).
The two subgenera can be distinguished by the presence (''Vitzthumia'') or absence (''Antennoseius'') of ambulacra and claws on the first leg pair. Additionally, some species of ''Vitzthumia'' have two distinct morphs, a free-living morph and a
phoretic morph. The free-living morph has much of its soft body
cuticle with microtubercles superimposed on striae and on the shields. The phoretic morph has generally smooth cuticle, and its sternal shield may be eroded posteriorly so that ''st3'' (the third seta pair) is on soft cuticle instead of the shield.
Males are known for only a few species. In the male of ''Antennoseius'' ''perseus'', the two dorsal shields are partially fused together, ventrally there is a sterno-genital shield (bearing 5 pairs of setae) and a ventrianal shield (bearing 7 pairs of setae in addition to the circum-anal setae), and each
chelicera
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 ...
bears a spermatodactyl (structure used to transfer sperm to the female), among other differences.
Ecology
''Antennoseius'' occur in
soil
Soil, also commonly referred to as earth or dirt
Dirt is an unclean matter, especially when in contact with a person's clothes, skin, or possessions. In such cases, they are said to become dirty.
Common types of dirt include:
* Debri ...
(especially soil that is moist),
plant litter
Plant litter (also leaf litter, tree litter, soil litter, litterfall or duff) is dead plant material (such as leaves, bark, needles, twigs, and cladodes) that have fallen to the ground. This detritus or dead organic material and its constitue ...
,
salt marshes,
moss, and nests of various animals (
mice,
birds and
ants
Ants are Eusociality, eusocial insects of the Family (biology), family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the Taxonomy (biology), order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from Vespoidea, vespoid wasp ancestors in the Creta ...
).
Adult females of this genus often attach phoretically to
ground beetles for transport.
Diet has been studied for only a few species, but these mainly feed on small invertebrates including other mites,
nematodes
The nematodes ( or grc-gre, Νηματώδη; la, Nematoda) or roundworms constitute the phylum Nematoda (also called Nemathelminthes), with plant-parasitic nematodes also known as eelworms. They are a diverse animal phylum inhabiting a broa ...
and
insects
Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs of j ...
.
Species
* ''
Antennoseius arvensis''
Kaluz, 1994
* ''
Antennoseius boskopensis''
Ryke, 1962
* ''
Antennoseius bregetovae''
Chelebiev, 1984
* ''
Antennoseius calathi''
Fain, Noti & Dufrene, 1995
* ''
Antennoseius chirae''
Jordaan, Loots & Theron, 1987
* ''
Antennoseius dargomensis''
Barilo, 1987
* ''
Antennoseius davidovae''
Eidelberg, 1994
* ''
Antennoseius deyi''
Bhattacharyya, 1994
* ''Antennoseius fecundus''
Berlese, 1916
* ''
Antennoseius garurensis''
Bhattacharyya, 1994
* ''
Antennoseius ghilarovi''
Balan, 1988
* ''
Antennoseius hyperboreus''
Nikolskij, 1988
* ''
Antennoseius janus''
Lindquist & Walter, 1989
* ''
Antennoseius koroljevae''
Chelebiev, 1984
* ''
Antennoseius kurumanensis''
Jordaan, Loots & Theron, 1987
* ''
Antennoseius lobochelus''
Halliday, Walter & Lindquist, 1998
* ''
Antennoseius longipalpus''
Barilo, 1987
* ''
Antennoseius longisetus''
Eidelberg, 2000
* ''
Antennoseius makarovae''
Eidelberg, 1994
* ''
Antennoseius maltzevi''
Eidelberg, 1994
* ''
Antennoseius matalini''
Eidelberg, 2001
* ''
Antennoseius matsjuki''
Eidelberg, 2001
* ''
Antennoseius multisetus''
Eidelberg, 2000
* ''
Antennoseius orientalis''
Bhattacharyya, Sanyal & Bhattacharya, 2003
* ''
Antennoseius oudemansi''
(Thor, 1930)
* ''
Antennoseius ovaliscutalis''
Eidelberg, 2000
* ''
Antennoseius ranikhetensis''
Bhattacharyya, 1994
* ''
Antennoseius rugosus''
Masan, 1997
* ''
Antennoseius shcherbakae''
Balan, 1988
* ''
Antennoseius similis''
Eidelberg, 2001
* ''
Antennoseius sinicus''
Guo & Gu, 1997
* ''Antennoseius ukrainicus''
Sklyar, 1994
* ''Antennoseius vysotskajae''
Sklyar, 1994
Identification
Key to Chinese speciesKey to subgenus ''Vitzthumia''
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q4771287
Ascidae