Damaeolidae

Damaeolus sp., from here.

Belongs within: Brachypylina.

The Damaeolidae are a family of oribatid mites with distinctive mouthparts in which the palpal segmentation is reduced, the rutella enlarged and membranous, and the chelicerae have particularly large teeth (Norton & Behan-Pelletier 2009). The family (and its most widespread species, Fosseremus laciniatus) is found on all continents except Antarctica (Subías 2004). The Ecuadorian species Caudamaeolus petalus is particularly distinctive in having two pairs of seta-bearing posterior apophyses on the notogaster. Fosseremus is characterised by the presence of four semicircular depressions on the notogaster. The Pacific Gressittolus marginatus has an irregular polygonal structure to the central part of the notogaster, surrounded by irregular radial lines in the marginal part, together with short lanceolate notogastral setae. The Holarctic and African Damaeolus lacks the above modifications of the notogaster (Balogh & Balogh 1992, vol. 1).

Characters (from Balogh & Balogh 1992 vol. 1; Norton & Behan-Pelletier 2009): Length 215–250 µm. Subcapitulum diarthric; rutella very large, thin and leaflike; chelicerae with unusually large teeth. Palpgenu without setae, may be fused to femur; palpfemur with three to five setae. Prodorsum without true lamellae; lamellar setae near rostral setae. Dorsosejugal suture arcuate. Notogaster with scalps absent; octotaxic system absent; dorsophragmata and pleurophragmata absent; paired opisthonotal glands opening directly on notogaster. Epimeral, genital and aggenital setae simple; six pairs of genital setae, two pairs of anal setae, three pairs of adanal setae. Legs monodactyle.

Damaeolidae
    |--Caudamaeolus Balogh 1988 S04
    |    `--*C. petalus Balogh 1988 S04
    |--Gressittolus Balogh 1970 [incl. Fijirella Hammer 1971] S04
    |    `--*G. marginatus Balogh 1970 S04 [incl. Fijirella mollis Hammer 1971 S04, G. mollis C-R79]
    |--Fosseremus Grandjean 1954 S04
    |    |--*F. laciniatus (Berlese 1905) S04 (see below for synonymy)
    |    |--F. americanus (Jacot 1938) [=Damaeolus lacinatus americanus] S04
    |    |--F. quadripertitus Grandjean 1965 NB-P09, S04
    |    `--F. sculpturatus Mahunka 1982 S04
    `--Damaeolus Paoli 1908 S04
         |--*D. asperatus (Berlese 1904) [=Dameosoma asperatum] S04
         |--D. bregetovae Csiszár 1962 S04
         |--D. cellulatus Subías, Ruiz & Kahwash 1990 S04
         |--D. magnus Mahunka 1979 S04
         |--D. ocellatus Mahunka 2000 S04
         `--D. ornatissimus Csiszár 1962 S04

*Fosseremus laciniatus (Berlese 1905) S04 [=Dameosoma laciniatum S04, Damaeolus laciniatus CH98; incl. Fosseremus africanus Balogh 1958 S04, Damaeolus ornatus Mihelčič 1956 S04, Damaeolus pistillifer Berlese 1913 S04, Damaeolus saltaensis Hammer 1958 S04, Fosseremus saltaensis BB92]

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[BB92] Balogh, J., & P. Balogh. 1992. The Oribatid Mites Genera of the World vol. 2. Plates. Hungarian Natural History Museum: Budapest.

[CH98] Colloff, M. J., & R. B. Halliday. 1998. Oribatid Mites: A catalogue of Australian genera and species. CSIRO Publishing: Collingwood.

[C-R79] Corpuz-Raros, L. A. 1979. Philippine Oribatei (Acarina). I. Preliminary list of species and descriptions of forty new species. Philippine Agriculturist 62 (1): 1–82.

[NB-P09] Norton, R. A., & V. M. Behan-Pelletier. 2009. Suborder Oribatida. In: Krantz, G. W., & D. E. Walter (eds) A Manual of Acarology 3^rd ed. pp. 430–564. Texas Tech University Press.

[S04] Subías, L. S. 2004. Listado sistemático, sinonímico y biogeográfico de los ácaros oribátidos (Acariformes, Oribatida) del mundo (1758–2002). Graellsia 60 (número extraordinario): 3–305.

Last updated: 22 December 2018.