The Laelapidae are a family of mites in the order Mesostigmata.[1][2] The family is also referred to in the literature as Laelaptidae, which may be the correct spelling.

Laelapidae
Temporal range: Palaeogene–present
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Mesostigmata
Family: Laelapidae
Berlese, 1892

Description

edit

Laelapidae have a shield covering all or most of the dorsal surface (holodorsal shield). Ventrally, there is a sternal shield with 3 pairs of setae, a tongue- or flask-shaped genital shield (greatly expanded in Ololaelaps) with usually at least 1 pair of setae, and a small anal shield with 3 circumanal setae. The peritremes are typically long and the peritrematal shields often narrow.[3]

Ecology

edit

Laelapidae is the most ecologically diverse group of Mesostigmata.[4] As of 2012, there were ten laelapid genera known to be free-living predators in soil, thirty-five that are ectoparasites on mammals (e.g. rodents[5]) and forty-three have species associated with arthropods.[4] Laelapidae are the only family in superfamily Dermanyssoidea to include free-living predators.[3]

Among the arthropod-associated laelapids are taxa associated with bees. Raymentia are associated with Lasioglossum sweat bees and may be pollen-feeders,[6] Neohypoaspis are predators on astigmatid mites in stingless bee nests, Pneumolaelaps feed on pollen and nectar in bumblebee nests, Melittiphis alvearius feeds on pollen in European honeybee nests and Tropilaelaps are obligatory parasites of honeybees.[4]

Other arthropod-associated laelapids include species of Hypoaspis sensu lato associated with burrowing cockroaches[7] and Julolaelaps moseri which was collected from a millipede of family Spirostreptidae.[8]

Biological control

edit

Several species of Laelapidae are used commercially as biological control agents of pests, and others are being studied for the same purpose.[9] Examples include Gaeolaelaps aculeifer and Stratiolaelaps scimitus, used to control various pests in soil (thrips pupae, fly maggots, bulb mites), and pests of mushrooms (fungus gnats) and poultry (poultry red mite).[10]

Genera

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ "www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov". Retrieved 2010-04-14.
  2. ^ David Evans Walter (ed.). "Laelapidae Species Listing". Biology Catalog. Texas A&M University. Retrieved August 31, 2010.
  3. ^ a b "Laelapidae". idtools.org. Retrieved 2022-09-18.
  4. ^ a b c "Family Laelapidae Berlese, 1892". insects.ummz.lsa.umich.edu. Retrieved 2022-09-18.
  5. ^ Kaminskienė, Evelina; Radzijevskaja, Jana; Balčiauskas, Linas; Gedminas, Vaclovas; Paulauskas, Algimantas (2017-09-04). "Laelapidae mites (Acari: Mesostigmata) infesting small rodents in the Curonian Spit, Lithuania". Biologija. 63 (2). doi:10.6001/biologija.v63i2.3528. ISSN 2029-0578.
  6. ^ Walter, David Evans; Beard, Jennifer J; Walker, Ken L; Sparks, Kathryn (2002-04-19). "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 (2): 128–148. doi:10.1046/j.1440-6055.2002.00280.x. ISSN 1326-6756.
  7. ^ Faraji, Farid; Halliday, Bruce (2009-08-04). "Five new species of mites (Acari: Laelapidae) associated with large Australian cockroaches (Blattodea: Blaberidae)". International Journal of Acarology. 35 (3): 245–264. Bibcode:2009IJAca..35..245F. doi:10.1080/01647950903059445. ISSN 0164-7954. S2CID 85251170.
  8. ^ Hunter, Preston E.; Rosario, Rose Marie T. (1986). "A new species of Julolaelaps berlese (Acari: Laelapidae)". International Journal of Acarology. 12 (2): 63–67. Bibcode:1986IJAca..12...63H. doi:10.1080/01647958608683442. ISSN 0164-7954.
  9. ^ Moreira, Grazielle Furtado; de Moraes, Gilberto José (2015), Carrillo, Daniel; de Moraes, Gilberto José; Peña, Jorge E. (eds.), "The Potential of Free-Living Laelapid Mites (Mesostigmata: Laelapidae) as Biological Control Agents", Prospects for Biological Control of Plant Feeding Mites and Other Harmful Organisms, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 77–102, doi:10.1007/978-3-319-15042-0_3, ISBN 978-3-319-15041-3, retrieved 2022-09-18
  10. ^ Park, Jihye; Mostafiz, Md Munir; Hwang, Hwal-Su; Jung, Duck-Oung; Lee, Kyeong-Yeoll (2021-05-25). "Comparing the Life Table and Population Projection of Gaeolaelaps aculeifer and Stratiolaelaps scimitus (Acari: Laelapidae) Based on the Age-Stage, Two-Sex Life Table Theory". Agronomy. 11 (6): 1062. doi:10.3390/agronomy11061062. ISSN 2073-4395.
  11. ^ Kavianpour; Nemati; Gwiazdowicz; Kocheili (2013). "A new species of the genus Gaeolaelaps (Acari, Mesostigmata, Laelapidae) from Iran". ZooKeys (277): 1–11. Bibcode:2013ZooK..277....1K. doi:10.3897/zookeys.277.4741. PMC 3677369. PMID 23794820.
edit