Bdellidae is a family of snout mites in the order
Trombidiformes
The Trombidiformes are a large, diverse order of mites.
Taxonomy
In 1998, Trombidiformes was divided into the Sphaerolichida and the Prostigmata. The group has few synapomorphies by which it can be defined, unlike the other major group of aca ...
. There are about 11 genera and at least 260 described species in Bdellidae.
In terms of size, they are medium to large-sized predatory mites. They are known to inhabit soil, leaves, as well as intertidal rocks. They can be easily recognized by their elongated, snout-like
gnathosoma
The gnathosoma (from Greek , ' = "jaw" and , ' = "body") is the part of the body of the Acari (mites and ticks) comprising the mouth and feeding parts. These are the hypostome, the chelicerae and the pedipalps. It is also called the capitulum (howe ...
pedipalps bearing two (one in ''
Monotrichobdella'') long terminal
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 ...
.
Genera
* ''
Bdella''
Latreille, 1795
* ''
Biscirus''
Thor, 1913
* ''
Cyta
CYTA Ltd. (; short for "Cyprus Telecommunication Authority"; gr, Αρχή Τηλεπικοινωνιών Κύπρου (ΑΤΗΚ), ''Archí Tilelikoinonión Kýprou (ATIK)'' ) is a telecommunication provider in Cyprus.
The Cyprus Telecommunicat ...
''
von Heyden, 1826
* ''
Hexabdella''
van Der Schyff, Theron & Ueckermann, 2004
* ''
Monotrichobdella''
Baker & Balock, 1944
* ''
Neomolgus''
Oudemans, 1937
* ''
Odontoscirus''
Thor, 1913
* ''
Polytrichus''
van Der Schyff, Theron & Ueckermann, 2003
* ''
Spinibdella''
Thor, 1930
* ''
Tetrabdella''
Hernandes & Feres, 2006
* ''
Trachymolgus''
Berlese Berlese or Berlèse is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Antonio Berlese (1863–1927), Italian entomologist
* Augusto Napoleone Berlese (1864–1903), Italian botanist and mycologist, brother of Antonio
* Lorenzo Berlèse (1784 ...
, 1923
Gallery
Bdellidae - 2012-10-16.ogv, A mite (Bdellidae) sucks on a dead midge
References
Further reading
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Trombidiformes
Acari families
{{trombidiformes-stub