Erythraeus

Erythraeus sp., copyright Tom Murray.

Belongs within: Erythraeinae.

Erythraeus is a genus of predatory mites found in Eurasia, North America and southern Africa. They are distinguished from other Erythraeinae by the presence of palpal conalae but the absence of other derived features. There has historically been some confusion about the application of the name 'Erythraeus'; early authors applied this name to mites of the family Anystidae whereas members of the current concept of Erythraeus were often referred to a genus Rhyncholophus until the 1930s. Two species found in Australia and northern Africa possess asymmetrically serrate setae on the legs and have previously been treated as a separate genus Parerythraeus (Southcott 1961).

Characters (from Southcott 1961): Adults moderately large mites with two eyes on each side; crista present, normal; palpi bearing series of stout conical spines (conalae) distally and ventrally (i.e. along flexor edge) on tibia and genu; palpal tarsus pear- or club-shaped, overreaching palpal tibia1 claw; legs without modified serrate setae (serratalae).

<==Erythraeus Latreille 1806 H98 (see below for synonymy)
    |--E. (Erythraeus) H09
    |    |--*E. (E.) phalangioides (De Geer 1778) SB63 (see below for synonymy)
    |    |--E. (E.) adrastus (Southcott 1961) H09
    |    |--E. (E.) ankaraicus Saboori, Cobanoglu & Bayram 2004 H09
    |    |--E. (E.) capeverdensis Haitlinger 2009 H09
    |    |--E. (E.) garmsaricus Saboori, Goldarazena & Khajeali 2004 H09
    |    |--E. (E.) hypertrichotus Saboori, Goldarazena & Khajeali 2004 H09
    |    |--E. (E.) kacperi Haitlinger 2004 H09
    |    |--E. (E.) sabrinae Haitlinger & Saboori 1996 H09
    |    |--E. (E.) shojaii Saboori Babolmorad 2000 H09
    |    `--E. (E.) southcotti Goldarazena & Zhang 1998 H09
    `--E. (Helladerythraeus Beron 1988) G91

Erythraeus incertae sedis:
  E. acis Berlese 1882 SB63 [=Rhyncholophus phalangoides var. acis S61]
  ‘Rhyncholophus’ arenicola Andersén 1863 S61
  E. ‘arenicola’ (Hall 1912) [=Rhyncholophus arenicola non Anderson 1863] S61
  E. banksi Oudemans 1941 [=E. longipes Banks 1894 non Rhyncholophus longipes Koch 1854] S61
  E. carolinus Banks 1947 S61
  E. cinctipes Banks 1894 S61
  ‘Rhyncholophus’ cinereus Dugès 1834 S61 [=Trombidium cinereum CF77]
  E. dubiosus Schweizer 1951 SB63
  E. dugesii (Lucas 1847) S61, E12 [=Rhyncholophus dugesii S61]
  ‘Rhyncholophus’ electoralis [incl. R. canonicalis Pavesi 1876, Trombidium culicis] CF77
  E. elongatus (Banks 1899) [=Rhyncholophus elongatus] T04
  E. exilipes Banks 1947 S61
  ‘Morieria’ fageli Cooreman 1956 S61
  E. filipes (Berlese 1888) [=Rhyncholophus filipes] S61
  E. foveolatus Koch & Berendt 1854 S93 [=Rhyncholophus foveolatus S61]
  E. ghilarovi WL09
  E. gregoryi (Southcott 1946) H98 [=*Parerythraeus gregoryi S61]
  E. groenlandicus Trägårdh 1904 T04
  ‘Rhyncholophus’ hermanni Dugès 1834 S61
  E. hirsutissimus Koch & Berendt 1854 S93
  E. illustris Koch & Berendt 1854 S93
  E. impectus (Berlese 1888) [=Rhyncholophus impectus] S61
  E. incertus Koch & Berendt 1854 S93
  E. longipes Koch & Berendt 1854 S93 [=Rhyncholophus longipes S61]
  E. miniatus (see below for synonymy) T04
  ‘Rhyncholophus’ moestus Banks 1914 S61
  E. nivalis (Heer 1845) [=Rhyncholophus nivalis] SB63
  E. ‘nivalis’ Schweizer 1951 nec Rhyncholophus nivalis Heer 1845 nec Erythraeus hercules nivalis Schweizer 1922 SB63
  ‘Rhyncholophus’ pallipes Lucas 1847 E12
  E. parvisetosus Ewing 1909 S61
  E. posticatus Banks 1916 S61
  ‘Rhyncholophus’ pulcher S61
  E. regalis (Koch 1837) SB63 (see below for synonymy)
  E. remotus Banks 1924 S61
  ‘Rhyncholophus’ rubescens Dugès 1834 S61
  E. simplex Banks 1894 S61
  E. tolteka Vitzthum 1933 S61
  ‘Parerythraeus’ tragardhi Southcott 1961 S61

Erythraeus Latreille 1806 H98 [=Apectolophus Berlese 1891 S61; incl. Parerythraeus Southcott 1946 H98, Rhyncholophus Dugès 1834 S61]

Erythraeus miniatus [incl. Rhyncholophus albicomus Koch 1879, Trombidium hyperboreum Thorell 1872, R. hyperboreus, Erythraeus miniatus var. rubripes] T04

Erythraeus regalis (Koch 1837) SB63 [=Rhyncholophus regalis SB63, Belaustium (l. c. for Balaustium) regale S61; incl. Rhyncholophus signatus Koch 1879 T04, Erythraeus signatus T04]

*Erythraeus (Erythraeus) phalangioides (De Geer 1778) SB63 [=Acarus phalangioides SB63, Rhyncholophus (*Apectolophus) phalangoides S61, R. phalangiodes (l. c.) S61; incl. R. gracilipes Kramer 1897 T04, Erythraeus phalangioides var. gracilipes S51, R. intermedius Trägårdh 1902 T04, E. opilionides T04]

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[CF77] Canestrini, G., & F. Fanzago. 1877. Intorno agli Acari Italiani. Atti del Reale Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti, Serie 5, 4: 69–208, pls 2–7.

[E12] Evenhuis, N. L. 2012. Publication and dating of the Exploration Scientifique de l'Algérie: Histoire Naturelle des Animaux Articulés (1846–1849) by Pierre Hippolyte Lucas. Zootaxa 3448: 1–61.

[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.

[H09] Haitlinger, R. 2009. Three new species of mites (Acari: Prostigmata: Erythraeidae) from the Republic of Cape Verde. Biologia 64 (6): 1150–1156.

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

[S51] Schweizer, J. 1951. Die Landmilben des schweizerischen Nationalparkes. 2. Teil: Trombidiformes. Ergebnisse der wissenschaftlichen Untersuchung des schweizerischen Nationalparks [Résultats des recherches scientifiques entreprises au Parc National Suisse] 3 (Neue Folge): 51–172.

[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.

[S93] Selden, P. A. 1993. Arthropoda (Aglaspidida, Pycnogonida and Chelicerata). In: Benton, M. J. (ed.) The Fossil Record 2 pp. 297–320. Chapman & Hall: London.

[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.

[T04] Trägårdh, I. 1904. Fauna Arctica: Eine Zusammenstellung der arktischen Tierformen, mit besonderer Berücksichtigung des Spitzbergen-Gebietes auf Grund der Ergebnisse der Deutschen Expedition in das Nördliche Eismeer im Jahre 1898 vol. 4 pt 1. Monographie der arktischen Acariden. Gustav Fischer: Jena.

[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.

Last updated: 2 July 2022.