''Fessonia brevicristata'' is a species 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 evid ...

belonging to the family

Smaridiidae Smarididae is a family of mites belonging to the order Trombidiformes. These large predatory mites have long oval bodies, distinctively pointed in front. They are usually red and densely hairy with slender legs, sometimes very long. They have e ...

. This is a densely hairy mite, shaped as a long oval, pointed in front. It reaches around 1 mm in length. There are two pairs of eyes, those placed further forward much larger than those behind. Both the first and fourth pairs of legs are longer than the body. It can be distinguished from its congeners by the structure of the crista (a sclerotized sensory area located at the highest point of the body). In this species the crista is truncated so that the sensory

seta 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 ...

e lying farthest back along the body do not lie on the crista. This species is endemic to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

and has since been transferred to the genus ''Kraussiana'' Southcott, 1961.

References

*''Nine new species of the superfamily Erythraeoidea (Acarina: Trombidiformes) associated with plants in South Africa'', Magdalena K.P. Meyer & P.A.J. Ryke, Acarologia I *''Studies on the systematics and biology of the Erythraeoidea (Acarina), with a critical revision of the genera and subfamilies.'' R.V. Southcott, Australian Journal of Zoology, 9(3): 367-610. Trombidiformes Animals described in 1959 Endemic fauna of South Africa {{Trombidiformes-stub