Ameroseiidae

Ameroseius sp., copyright G. K. Gerber.

Belongs within: Gamasina.

The Ameroseiidae are a family of mesostigmatan mites feeding on fungal or plant matter; species of this family may be free-living or they may be found in association with insects or birds. Some species of Ameroseius are associated with bracket fungi and/or decaying wood. The cosmopolitan species Ameroseius plumosus feeds on fungi in animal nests and food stores, and has been reported as a nuisance when damp conditions have lead to numbers reaching infestation level. Species of Hattena have been found around the nares and beak of nectar-feeding birds, probably as part of a phoretic association transporting the mites between flowers (Lindquist et al. 2009).

Characters (from Lindquist et al. 2009): Corniculi often divided distally or entire. Opisthonotum without caudal setae J5 and marginal R setae. Posterior row of deutosternal denticles extending laterally beyond insertions of capitular setae. Femur II with ten setae, including four dorsals. Female sternal shield with one or typically two pairs of setae (sternal setae 1–2); sternal setae 3 often on adjacent platelets or on soft cuticle, rarely on sternal shield; epigynal shield separate from anal shield.

<==Ameroseiidae
    |--Afrocypholaelaps Elsen 1972 FH93
    |    |--*A. africanus (Evans 1963) SW95 [=Neocypholaelaps africana SW95, A. africana H98, N. africanus H98]
    |    |--A. lindquisti (Prasad 1968) SW95, FH93 [=Neocypholaelaps lindquisti SW95]
    |    `--A. ranomafanaensis Haitlinger 1987 SW95
    |--Ameroseiella Bregetova in Ghilarov 1977 FH93
    |    `--*A. apodia (Karg 1971) ET79, FH93 [=Ameroseius apodus FH93]
    |--Brontispalaelaps Womersley 1959 H98
    |    |--B. leveri LKW09
    |    `--B. marianneae Halliday 1997 H98
    |--Epicriopsis Berlese 1916 FH93
    |    |--*E. horridus (Kramer 1876) [=Gamasus horridus] ET79
    |    |--E. palustris Karg 1971 FH93
    |    `--E. walteri Halliday 1997 H98
    |--Sertitympanum Elsen & Whitaker 1985 FH93
    |    |--S. contiguum Elsen & Whitaker 1985 FH93
    |    |--S. exarmatum Elsen & Whitaker 1985 FH93
    |    `--S. separationis Elsen & Whitaker 1985 FH93
    |--Hattena Domrow 1963 H98 [incl. Edbarellus WB02]
    |    |--H. cometis Domrow 1979 H98
    |    |--H. floricola Halliday 1997 H98
    |    |--H. incisa Halliday 1997 H98
    |    `--H. panopla Domrow 1966 H98
    |--Neocypholaelaps Vitzthum 1942 H98 [incl. Asperolaelaps Womersley 1956 H98, Indoseius Evans 1955 FH93]
    |    |--N. ampullula H01
    |    |--N. apicola H01
    |    |--N. cocos Evansw 1963 H98
    |    |--N. indica H01
    |    |--N. novaehollandiae Evans 1961 SL71
    |    |--N. rotundus (Womersley 1956) [=Asperolaelaps rotundus] H98
    |    `--N. stridulans H01
    `--Ameroseius Berlese 1903 H98 (see below for synonymy)
         |--*A. echinatus (Koch 1839) [=Seius echinatus] ET79
         |--A. californicus Garman & McGregor 1956 FH93
         |--A. corbiculus (Sowerby 1806) FH93 (see below for synonymy)
         |--A. coronarius De Leon 1964 FH93
         |--A. decemsetosus Micherdzinski 1965 M65
         |--A. delicatus Berlese 1918 [=Kleemannia delicata] S61
         |--A. dubiatus Berlese 1918 [=Kleemannia dubiata] S61
         |--A. flagellatus Berlese 1910 [=Lasioseius flagellatus] M65
         |--A. longitrichus Hirschmann in Westerboer & Bernhard 1963 FH93
         |--A. macropilis De Leon 1964 FH93
         |--A. mariehigginsae De Leon 1964 FH93
         |--A. ornatus Womersley 1956 H98
         |--‘Zercon’ pavidus Koch 1839 [=*Kleemannia pavida] ET79
         |--A. peniphorae De Leon 1964 FH93
         |--A. pennatus (Fox 1949) [=Borinquolaelaps pennatus] FH93
         |--A. plumigera (Oudemans 1930) K91, FH93 [=Kleemannia plumigera FH93]
         |--A. plumosus (Oudemans 1902) (see below for synonymy) H98
         |--A. pulcher Westerboer 1963 M65
         |--A. sculptilis K91
         `--A. vietnamensis Micherdzinski 1965 M65

Ameroseius Berlese 1903 H98 [incl. Cornubia Turk 1943 FH93, Kleemannia Oudeman 1930 H98, Primoseius Womersley 1956 H98]

Ameroseius corbiculus (Sowerby 1806) FH93 [=Acarus corbicula FH93; incl. Seius hirsutus Koch 1836 FH93, Ameroseius hirsutus S22]

Ameroseius plumosus (Oudemans 1902) [=Seiulus plumosus, Kleemannia plumosa, Kleemania (l. c.) plumosus; incl. Zercoseius macauleyi Hughes 1948, Primoseius macauleyi] H98

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[ET79] Evans, G. O., & W. M. Till. 1979. Mesostigmatic mites of Britain and Ireland (Chelicerata: Acari—Parasitiformes). An introduction to their external morphology and classification. Transactions of the Zoological Society of London 35: 139–270.

[FH93] Farrier, M. H., & M. K. Hennessey. 1993. Soil-inhabiting and free-living Mesostigmata (Acari—Parasitiformes) from North America: an annotated checklist with bibliography and index. North Carolina Agricultural Research Service, North Carolina State University, Technical Bulletin 302: i–xvi, 1–408.

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

[H01] Haq, M. A. 2001. Life cycle and behaviour of the coconut mite Neocypholaelaps stridulans (Evans) (Acari: Ameroseiidae). In: Halliday, R. B., D. E. Walter, H. C. Proctor, R. A. Norton & M. J. Colloff (eds) Acarology: Proceedings of the 10^th International Congress pp. 361–365. CSIRO Publishing: Melbourne.

[K91] Kohn, M. 1991. Influence of the refuse dump biotopes on ecology of some gamasoid mites and ticks. 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. 1 pp. 199–204. SPB Academic Publishing: The Hague.

[LKW09] Lindquist, E. E., G. W. Krantz & D. E. Walter. 2009. Order Mesostigmata. In: Krantz, G. W., & D. E. Walter (eds) A Manual of Acarology 3^rd ed. pp. 124–232. Texas Tech University Press.

[M65] Micherdzinski, W. 1965. Two new species of Ameroseius Berlese 1903 (Mesostigmata: Ameroseiidae) from Viet-nam. Acarologia 7 (1): 17–29.

[S22] Schweizer, J. 1922. Beitrag zur Kenntnis der terrestrischen Milbenfauna der Schweiz. Verhandl. Naturf. Ges. Basel 33: 23–112, 4 pls.

[S61] Schweizer, J. 1961. Die Landmilben der Schweiz (Mittelland, Jura und Alpen): Parasitiformes Reuter, mit 246 Arten und Varietäten und 268 meist kombinierten Originalzeichnungen. Denkschriften der Schweizerischen Naturforschenden Gesellschaft [Mémoires de la Société Helvétique des Sciences Naturelles] 84: i–vii, 1–207.

[SW95] Seeman, O. D., & D. E. Walter. 1995. Life history of Afrocypholaelaps africana (Evans) (Acari: Ameroseiidae), a mite inhabiting mangrove flowers and phoretic on honeybees. Journal of the Australian Entomological Society 34: 45–50.

[SL71] Spain, A. V., & M. Luxton. 1971. Catalog and bibliography of the Acari of the New Zealand subregion. Pacific Insects Monograph 25: 179–226.

[WB02] Walter, D. E., J. J. Beard, K. L. Walker & K. Sparks. 2002. Of mites and bees: a review of mite-bee associations in Australia and a revision of Raymentia Womersley (Acari: Mesostigmata: Laelapidae), with the description of two new species of mites from Lasioglossum (Parasphecodes) spp. (Hymenoptera: Halictidae). Australian Journal of Entomology 41: 128–148.

Last updated: 13 April 2021.