Erythraeinae

Eatoniana plumipes, photographed by Cor Zonneveld.

Belongs within: Erythraeoidea.
Contains: Erythraeus.

The Erythraeinae are a group of often large erythraeid mites that possess two pairs of eyes, rather than one pair as in other erythraeids. In members of the genera Augustsonella to Kakamasia in the tree below, the palp bears distinctly thickened, peg- or cone-like setae (conalae) on the genu and tibia; these modified setae are absent in other genera (Gabryś 1991). The palpal conalae are present dorsolaterally on the appendage in the North American Augustsonella tuberculata whereas in other genera with palpal conalae are present ventrally only. The New Zealand species Neosmaris novaezealandiae has the crista obsolescent with only the anterior and posterior sensillary areas remaining (Southcott 1961).

Characters (from Southcott 1961): Erythraeidae with two eyes on each side. Adult and nymph normally with a crista (absent in Neosmaris); anterior sensillary area of crista placed dorsally at the anterior pole of the propodosoma. Larvae with two eyes on each side; dorsal scutum rounded or squarish with two or three pairs of scutalae (except teratologically); lateral (neolateral) tarsal claws asymmetrical.

<==Erythraeinae S61
    |  i. s.: Forania Southcott 1961 S61
    |           `--*F. mentonensis (André 1929) [=Bochartia mentonensis] S61
    |         Grognieria Oudemans 1941 (n. d.) S61
    |           `--*G. agilis (Canestrini 1884) [=Rhyncholophus agilis] S61
    |         Bochartia Oudemans 1910 [=Bockartia (l. c.), Brochartia (l. c.)] S61
    |           |--*B. kuyperi Oudemans 1910 S61
    |           `--B. adrastus Southcott 1961 S61
    |--+--Augustsonella Southcott 1961 G91 [=Augustsonia Southcott 1961 S61; Augustsonellinae]
    |  |    `--*A. tuberculata (Augustson 1940) [=Erythraeus tuberculatus, *Augustsonia tuberculata] S61
    |  `--+--Lasioerythraeus Welbourn & Young 1987 G91
    |     |    |--L. johnstoni WL09
    |     |    `--L. whitcombi WL09
    |     `--+--+--Tepoztlana Hoffmann & Mendez 1973 G91
    |        |  `--Erythraeus G91
    |        `--+--Podosmaridia Trägårdh 1937 G91
    |           |    `--*P. longipes Trägårdh 1937 S61
    |           `--+--Claverythraeus Trägårdh 1937 G91
    |              |    `--*C. mongolicus Trägårdh 1937 S61
    |              `--Kakamasia Lawrence 1944 G91
    |                   |--*K. polygona Lawrence 1944 S61
    |                   `--K. pilosa Lawrence 1944 S61
    `--+--Neosmaris Hirst 1926 G91
       |    `--*N. novaezealandiae Hirst 1926 S61
       `--+--Erythrellus Southcott 1946 G91
          |    `--*E. imbricatus Southcott 1946 S61
          `--+--+--+--Paraphanolophus Smiley 1968 G91
             |  |  `--Erythraxus Southcott 1961 G91
             |  |       `--*E. bisetosus (Wharton 1938) [=Erythraeus bisetosa, Erythraeus bisetosus] S61
             |  `--+--Curteria Southcott 1961 G91 [incl. Pedroerythraeus Haitlinger 2004 WMG07]
             |     |    |--*C. curticristata (Willmann 1950) [=Morieria curticristata] WMG07
             |     |    |--C. episcopalis (Koch 1837) WMG07
             |     |    |--C. ernesti (Haitlinger 2004) [=Pedroerythraeus ernesti] WMG07
             |     |    `--C. southcotti Gabryś 1992 WMG07
             |     `--Eatoniana Cambridge 1898 G91 (see below for synonymy)
             |          |--E. plumipes (Koch 1856) S61 (see below for synonymy)
             |          |--‘Erythraeus (*Ptilolophus)’ claviger Berlese 1916 B16
             |          |--E. namaquensis (Lawrence 1937) S61
             |          `--E. plumifer Birula 1893 (see below for synonymy) S61
             `--+--Erythroides Southcott 1946 G91
                |    |--*E. serratus (Womersley 1936) S61 [=Erythraeus serratus H98]
                |    |--E. clavatus Southcott 1946 H98
                |    |--E. darwini Southcott 1946 H98
                |    |--E. macdonnelli Southcott 1946 H98
                |    `--E. neoserratus Southcott 1946 H98
                `--+--Rainbowia Southcott 1961 G91
                   |    |--*R. imperator (Hirst 1928) S61 (see below for synonymy)
                   |    `--R. celeripes (Rainbow 1906) [=Rhyncholophus celeripes, Erythraeus celeripes] H98
                   `--Erythrites Southcott 1961 G91
                        |  i. s.: E. jacksoni WL09
                        |--E. (Erythrites) S61
                        |    |--*E. (E.) reginae (Hirst 1928) S61 (see below for synonymy)
                        |    `--E. (E.) stuarti (Southcott 1946) S61 [=Erythraeus stuarti H98]
                        |--E. (Gerites Southcott 1961) S61
                        |    |--E. (*G.) guttatus (Southcott 1946) S61 [=Erythraeus guttatus H98]
                        |    `--E. (G.) osmondensis (Southcott 1946) S61 [=Erythraeus osmondensis H98]
                        |--E. (Terebrites Southcott 1961) S61
                        |    `--E. (*T.) womersleyi (Southcott 1946) S61 [=Erythraeus womersleyi H98]
                        `--E. (Urrbites Southcott 1961) S61
                             |--E. (*U.) urrbrae (Womersley 1934) S61 (see below for synonymy)
                             `--E. (U.) pilosus (Hirst 1928) S61 [=Leptus pilosus H98, Erythraeus pilosus H98]

Eatoniana Cambridge 1898 G91 [=Eatonia Cambridge 1897 nec Hall 1857 nec Smith 1875 nec Meunier 1905 S61; incl. Lucasiella Banks 1900 SB63, Macropus Birula 1893 nec Shaw 1790 nec Latreille 1802 nec Thunberg 1805 nec Spix 1824 S61, Ptilolophus Berlese 1916 B16, S61]

Eatoniana plumifer Birula 1893 [=Rhyncholophus plumifer; incl. E. georgei Oudemans 1941, E. plumifer f. transcaspica Oudemans 1941 (n. n.)] S61

Eatoniana plumipes (Koch 1856) S61 [=Rhyncholophus plumipes S61, *Lucasiella plumipes SB63; incl. R. plumipes Lucas 1864 non Koch 1856 S61, *Eatonia scopulifera Cambridge 1897 S61, *Eatoniana scopulifera S61]

*Erythrites (Erythrites) reginae (Hirst 1928) S61 [=Leptus reginae H98, Erythraeus regina (l. c.) H98, Erythraeus reginae H98; incl. L. antepodianus Hirst 1928 H98, Erythraeus antepodianus H98, Erythrites antepodianus H98]

Erythrites (*Urrbites) urrbrae (Womersley 1934) S61 [=Erythraeus urrbrae H98; incl. Bockartia (l. c.) longipes Womersley 1934 H98, Bochartia longipes H98]

*Rainbowia imperator (Hirst 1928) S61 [=Leptus imperator H98, Erythraeus imperator H98; incl. Bochartia oudemansi Womersley 1936 H98, E. oudemansi H98]

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[B16] Berlese, A. 1916. Centuria terza di Acari nuovi. Redia 12: 289–338.

[G91] Gabryś, G. 1991. Intergeneric relationships within Erythraeidae (Acari, Actinedida). In: Dusbábek, F., & V. Bukva (eds) Modern Acarology: Proceedings of the VIII International Congress of Acarology, held in České Budĕjovice, Czechoslovakia, 6–11 August 1990 vol. 2 pp. 207–212. SPB Academic Publishing: The Hague.

[H98] Halliday, R. B. 1998. Mites of Australia: A checklist and bibliography. CSIRO Publishing: Collingwood.

[SB63] Schweizer, J., & C. Bader. 1963. Die Landmilben der Schweiz (Mittelland, Jura und Alpen): Trombidiformes Reuter, mit 217 Arten und Unterarten und 193 Originalzeichnungen. Denkschriften der Schweizerischen Naturforschenden Gesellschaft [Mémoires de la Société Helvétique des Sciences Naturelles] 84 (2): i–vi, 209–378.

[S61] Southcott, R. V. 1961. Studies on the systematics and biology of the Erythraeoidea (Acarina), with a critical revision of the genera and subfamilies. Australian Journal of Zoology 9: 367–610.

[WL09] Walter, D. E., E. E. Lindquist, I. M. Smith, D. R. Cook & G. W. Krantz. 2009. Order Trombidiformes. In: Krantz, G. W., & D. E. Walter (eds) A Manual of Acarology 3^rd ed. pp. 233–420. Texas Tech University Press.

[WMG07] Wohltmann, A., J. Mąkol & G. Gabryś. 2007. Description of the larva of Curteria Southcott, 1961 (Acari, Parasitengona, Erythraeidae) with notes on biology and life cycle. Biologia 62 (5): 573–580.

Last updated: 2 July 2022.