Caeculidae

Allocaeculus cf. catalanus, copyright Microcosmos.

Belongs within: Anystae.

The Caeculidae, rake-legged mites, are a group of large, heavily sclerotised, predatory mites with large spine-like setae on the legs (particularly the first) that are used in the capture of prey.

See also: Meet Australia's newest rake-legged mite; Continued adventures with rake-legged mites.

Characters (from Walter et al. 2009): Heavily sclerotised, usually with eight dorsal shields arranged in a characteristic pattern. Cheliceral bases unfused, apparently capable of limited lateral motion; palptibia always with a single, well-defined terminal claw and ancillary subterminal spines; with two pairs of lateral eyes and an anteromedian prodorsal eye associated with a naso. Setal elements of opisthosomatic segment AD present; with three pairs of genital papillae. Legs I with strong, internal spinose setae, tibia and tarsus I each with a solenidion and a vestigial actinopilous seta in an integumental sink. Paired claws on legs usually unequal in size, empodia absent. With prelarval, larval, and three nymphal stases.

Caeculidae [Caeculoidea, Hoplopidae, Hoplopini]
    |--Calocaeculus Coineau 1974 C74
    |    `--*C. lawrencei Coineau 1974 C74
    |--Andocaeculus Coineau 1974 C74
    |    |--*A. brundini (Franz 1962) [=Microcaeculus brundini] C74
    |    `--A. caioi Ott & Ott 2014 OO14
    |--Neocaeculus Coineau 1967 C74
    |    |--*N. luxtoni Coineau 1967 TGK13
    |    |--N. bornemisszai Coineau & Enns 1969 C74
    |    |--N. bruchi (Berlese 1916) [=Caeculus bruchi, N. brucki (l. c.)] TGK13
    |    |--N. imperfectus Taylor, Gunawardene & Kinnear 2013 TGK13
    |    |--N. johnstoni Coineau 1974 TGK13
    |    |--N. kinnearae Taylor 2014 T14
    |    |--N. knoepffleri Coineau & Enns 1969 C74
    |    |--N. lamorali Coineau 1974 C74
    |    |--N. nudonates Taylor 2014 T14
    |    |--N. orientalis Fuangarworn & Butcher 2015 FB15
    |    `--N. womersleyi Coineau 1974 TGK13
    |--Procaeculus Jacot 1936 C74
    |    |--*P. bryani Jacot 1936 C74
    |    |--P. brevis (Mulaik 1945) [=Caeculus brevis] TGK13
    |    |--P. dominicensis Coineau & Poinar 2001 TGK13
    |    |--P. eridanosae Coineau & Magowski 1994 TGK13
    |    |--P. magnus Coineau 1974 C74
    |    |--P. mexicanus (Mulaik & Allred 1954) [=Caeculus mexicanus] TGK13
    |    |--P. orchidicolis (Mulaik & Allred 1954) [=Caeculus orchidicolis] TGK13
    |    |--P. oregonus (Mulaik & Allred 1954) [=Caeculus oregonus] TGK13
    |    |--P. potosi (Mulaik & Allred 1954) [=Caeculus potosi] TGK13
    |    |--P. puertoricus (Mulaik 1945) [=Caeculus puertoricus] TGK13
    |    `--P. willmanni (Vitzthum 1933) [=Caeculus willmanni; incl. P. aitkeni Coineau 1967] TGK13
    |--Microcaeculus Franz 1952 [incl. Sclerocaeculus Coineau 1974 (n. n.)] TGK13
    |    |--*M. austriacus Franz 1952 O93
    |    |--M. andrei (Lawrence 1939) [=Caeculus andrei] TGK13
    |    |--M. canariensis Franz 1965 TGK13
    |    |--M. castrii Franz 1964 TGK13
    |    |--M. deserticolus (Lawrence 1939) [=Caeculus deserticolus, Sclerocaeculus deserticolus] TGK13
    |    |--M. franzi Coineau 1968 C74
    |    |--M. graecus Franz 1964 C74
    |    |--M. hispanicus Franz 1952 C74
    |    |--M. insolitus (André 1935) [=Caeculus insolitus] TGK13
    |    |--M. insularis Franz 1964 C74
    |    |--M. laoshanensis (Jacot 1936) [=Caeculus laoshanensis] TGK13
    |    |--M. liguricus (Vitzthum 1933) [=Caeculus liguricus] TGK13
    |    |--M. monticolus (Lawrence 1939) [=Caeculus monticolus] TGK13
    |    |--M. muscorum (Lucas 1847) [=Coeculus muscorum, Caeculus muscorum] TGK13
    |    |--M. namibensis Piffl 1965 [=Sclerocaeculus namibensis] TGK13
    |    |--M. nicoleae Coineau 1974 [=Calocaeculus nicoleae] C74
    |    |--M. nudus Franz 1964 TGK13
    |    |--M. pica Otto 1993 O93
    |    |--M. pisanus (André 1936) [=Caeculus pisanus] TGK13
    |    |--M. sabulicola Franz 1952 C74
    |    |--M. sinensis (Jacot 1936) [=Caeculus sinensis] TGK13
    |    |    |--M. s. sinensis C74
    |    |    `--M. s. taishanicus (Jacot 1936) [=Caeculus sinensis taishanicus] TGK13
    |    |--M. steineri Franz 1955 C74
    |    |    |--M. s. steineri [=M. hispanicus steineri] C74
    |    |    `--M. s. delamarei Coineau 1974 C74
    |    |--M. stephani Coineau & Haupt 1977 O93
    |    |--M. tibbettsi (Higgins & Mulaik 1958) [=Caeculus tibbettsi] TGK13
    |    |--M. uchidai (Asanuma 1940) [=Caeculus uchidai] TGK13
    |    `--M. weyrauchi Franz 1964 TGK13
    |--Caeculus Dufour 1832 [=Hoplopus Canestrini & Fanzago 1877; incl. Pseudocaeculus Coineau 1974 (n. n.)] TGK13
    |    |--*C. echinipes Dufour 1832 [=Hoplopus echinipes] TGK13
    |    |    |--C. e. echinipes C74
    |    |    `--C. e. crosbyi Jacot 1936 C74
    |    |--C. americanus Banks 1899 [=Pseudocaeculus americanus] TGK13
    |    |--C. archeri Mulaik 1945 C74
    |    |--C. calechius Mulaik 1945 M45
    |    |--C. clavatus Banks 1905 TGK13
    |    |--C. cremnicolus Enns 1958 H85
    |    |--C. crossleyi Hagan 1985 H85
    |    |--C. dorotheae Mulaik 1945 C74
    |    |--C. gertschi Mulaik 1945 TGK13
    |    |--C. hardyi Mulaik & Allred 1954 TGK13
    |    |--C. hirtipes Berlese 1910 (n. d.) [incl. C. hirtipes var. graecus Berlese 1910] TGK13
    |    |--C. hypopachus Mulaik 1945 TGK13
    |    |--C. janetae Higgins & Mulaik 1957 TGK13
    |    |--C. kerrulius Mulaik 1945 TGK13
    |    |--C. krantzi Coineau 1974 C74
    |    |--C. lewisi McDaniel & Boe 1990 TGK13
    |    |--C. mariae Higgins & Mulaik 1957 TGK13 [=Microcaeculus mariae P65]
    |    |--C. pettiti Nevin 1945 C74
    |    |--C. tipus Mulaik 1945 TGK13
    |    `--C. valverdius Mulaik 1945 C74
    `--Allocaeculus Franz 1952 TGK13
         |--*A. relictus Franz 1952 TGK13
         |--A. andalusiacus Franz 1952 TGK13
         |--A. catalanus Franz 1954 C74
         |--A. circinatus Coineau 1974 C74
         |--A. dubius (Kulczyński 1901) [=Caeculus dubius] TGK13
         |--A. echinatus Franz 1952 C74
         |--A. erinaceus Coineau 1974 C74
         |--A. grandjeani Franz 1957 TGK13
         |--A. hirsutus Coineau 1974 C74
         |--A. hoggarensis (André 1936) [=Caeculus hoggarensis] TGK13
         |--A. hystriciformis Franz 1952 C74
         |--A. hystrix (Lawrence 1939) [=Caeculus hystrix] TGK13
         |--A. indicus Piffl 1959 TGK13
         |--A. kalahariensis Coineau 1974 C74
         |--A. kenyae Franz 1964 TGK13
         |--A. kocheri Franz 1964 C74
         |--A. logonensis Franz 1957 TGK13
         |--A. meseticola Franz 1952 [=Caeculus meseticola] TGK13
         |--A. mosambicensis (André 1936) [=Caeculus mossambicensis] TGK13
         |--A. multispinosus Franz 1955 C74
         |--A. nigeriensis Coineau 1974 C74
         |--A. ouadaiensis Franz 1957 C74
         |--A. pilosus (Lawrence 1938) [=Caeculus pilosus] TGK13
         |--A. relictus Franz 1952 TGK13
         |--A. sandbergensis Mangová, Krumpál & L’uptáčik 2014 MKL14
         |--A. sarhroi Franz 1964 TGK13
         |--A. schusteri Franz 1960 TGK13
         |--A. sclerodermatus (André 1945) [=Caeculus sclerodermatus] TGK13
         |--A. sculptus (Karpelles 1893) [=Hoplopus sculptus, Caeculus sculptus] TGK13
         |--A. senegalensis (André 1938) [=Caeculus senegalensis] TGK13
         |--A. spathulifer (Michael 1890) (see below for synonymy) TGK13
         |--A. spinosissimus Franz 1952 C74
         |    |--A. s. spinosissimus TGK13
         |    `--A. s. rondae Franz 1952 TGK13
         |--A. sudanensis (Trägardh 1905) [=Caeculus sudanensis] TGK13
         |--A. tenerifae Franz 1965 TGK13
         `--A. tschadensis Franz 1957 C74
              |--A. t. tschadensis TGK13
              `--A. t. rifensis Franz 1960 TGK13

Allocaeculus spathulifer (Michael 1890) [=Caeculus spathulifer; incl. C. spathuliger var. calidior Berlese 1916 (n. n.)] TGK13

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

Coineau, Y. 1974. Éléments pour une monographie morphologique, écologique et biologique des Caeculidae (Acariens). Mémoires du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, nouvelle série, Série A, Zoologie 81: 1–299, 224 pls.

Fuangarworn, M., & B. A. Butcher. 2015. Neocaeculus orientalis sp. nov. (Acari, Trombidiformes, Caeculidae) from Thailand. Zootaxa 4048 (2): 251–268.

Hagan, D. V. 1985. Caeculus crossleyi n. sp. (Acari: Caeculidae) from granite outcrops in Georgia, U.S.A. International Journal of Acarology 11 (4): 241–245.

Mangová, B., M. Krumpál & P. L'uptáčik. 2014. Allocaeculus sandbergensis sp. n. (Acari: Caeculidae), a new prostigmatid mite from Slovakia. Biologia 69 (2): 214–218.

Mulaik, S. 1945. New mites in the family Caeculidae. Bulletin of the University of Utah 35 (17): 1–23.

Ott, A. P., & R. Ott. 2014. A new species of Andocaeculus (Acari, Caeculidae) from the Pampa biome, southern Brazil. Iheringia, Série Zoologie 104 (3): 355–363.

Otto, J. C. 1993. A new species of Microcaeculus from Australia (Acarina: Caeculidae), with notes on its biology and behavior. International Journal of Acarology 19 (1): 3–13.

Piffl, E. 1965. Microcaeculus namibensis nov. spec. Ein Vertreter der Caeculiden (Arachnoidea, Acarina) aus der Namibwüste Südwestafrikas. Scientific Papers of the Namib Desert Research Station 28: 1–12.

Taylor, C. K. 2014. Two further Neocaeculus species (Acari: Prostigmata: Caeculidae) from Barrow Island, Western Australia. Acarologia 54 (3): 347–358.

Taylor, C. K., N. R. Gunawardene & A. Kinnear. 2013. A new species of Neocaeculus (Acari: Prostigmata: Caeculidae) from Barrow Island, Western Australia, with a checklist of world Caeculidae. Acarologia 53 (4): 439–452.

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 3rd ed. pp. 233–420. Texas Tech University Press.