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'Acarina' or 'Acari' are a taxon of arachnids that contains mites and ticks. The diversity of the Acari is extraordinary and its fossil history goes back to the Devonian era. As a result, acarologists (the people who study mites and ticks) have proposed a complex set of taxonomic ranks to classify mites. In most modern treatments, the Acari is considered a subclass of Arachnida and is composed of 2-3 orders or superorders: Acariformes, Parasitiformes, and Opilioacariformes. The latter is often considered a subgroup within the Parasitiformes. The monophyly of the Acari is open to debate and the relationships of the acarine orders to other arachnids is not at all clear.
Most acarines are minute to small (e.g. 0.08–1.0 mm), but the largest Acari (some ticks and red velvet mites) may reach lengths of 10–20 mm. It is estimated that over 50,000 species have been described (as of 1999) and that a million or more species are currently living. The study of mites and ticks is called 'acarology' (from the Greek: ἀκάρι, ''akari'', a type of mite; and λόγος, ''logos'', "knowledge")^[1], and the leading scientific journals for acarology include ''Acarologia'', ''Experimental and Applied Acarology'' and ''International Journal of Acarology''.

Contents

Morphology

Ontogeny

Diversity and lifestyles

Economic importance

Taxonomy

References

Further reading

External links

Morphology

Mites are members of Arachnida and, as such, should have a segmented body with the segments organised into two tagmata: a prosoma (cephalothorax) and an opisthosoma (abdomen). However, only the faintest traces of primary segmentation remain in mites, the prosoma and opisthosoma are insensibly fused, and a region of flexible cuticle (the cirumcapitular furrow) separates the chelicerae and pedipalps from the rest of the body. This anterior body region is called the capitulum or gnathosoma and is also found in the Ricinulei. The remainder of the body is called the idiosoma and is unique to mites. Most adult mites have four pairs of legs, like other arachnids, but some have fewer. For example, gall mites like ''Phyllocoptes variabilis'' (superfamily Eriophyioidea) have a wormlike body with only two pairs of legs; some parasitic mites have only one or three pairs of legs in the adult stage. Larval and prelarval stages have a maximum of three pairs of legs; adult mites with only three pairs of legs may be called 'larviform'.

Ontogeny

Acarine ontogeny consists of an egg, a prelarval stage (often absent), a larval stage (hexapod except in Eriophyoidea which have only two pairs of legs), and a series of nymphal stages. Any or all of these stages except the adult may be suppressed or occur only within the body of a previous stage. Larvae (and prelarvae) have a maximum of three pairs of legs (legs are often reduced to stubs or absent in prelarvae); legs IV are added at the first nymphal stage. Usually a maximum of three nymphal stages are present and they are referred to in sequence as protonymph, deutonymph, and tritonymph; however, some soft ticks have supernumary nymphal stages. If one or more nymphal stages are absent, then authors may disagree on which stage(s) is(are) present.

Diversity and lifestyles

Acarines are extremely diverse. They live in practically every habitat, and include aquatic (freshwater and sea water) and terrestrial species. They outnumber other arthropods in the soil organic matter and detritus. Many are parasitic, and they affect both vertebrates and invertebrates. Most parasitic forms are external parasites, while the free living forms are generally predatory and may even be used to control undesirable arthropods. Others are detritivores that help to break down forest litter and dead organic matter such as skin cells. Others still are plant feeders and may damage crops.

Economic importance

Damage to crops is perhaps the most costly economic effect of mites, especially by the spider mites and their relatives (Tetranychoidea), earth mites (Penthaleidae), thread-footed mites (Tarsonemidae) and the gall and rust mites (Eriophyoidea). Some parasitic forms affect humans and other mammals, causing damage by their feeding, and can even be vectors of diseases such as scrub typhus and rickettsial pox. A well known effect of mites on humans is their role as an allergen and the stimulation of asthma in people affected by the repiratory disease. The use of predatory mites (e.g. Phytoseiidae) in pest control and herbivorous mites that attack weeds are also of importance. An unquantified, but major positive contribution of the Acari is their normal functioning in ecosystems, especially their roles in the decomposer subsystem .

Taxonomy

Rust mite (size: 30 micrometres)

Male tick (size: 2 mm)

The phylogeny of the Acari is still disputed and several taxonomic schemes have been proposed for its classification. Most workers agree that the Acari contains two separate lineages: the Acariformes (also Actinotrichida) and the Parasitiformes (also Anactinotrichida). However, some workers treat these groups as superorders and others as orders.

★ 'Acariformes' is the most diverse order/superorder of mites.
:Order/Suborder:
:
★ Trombidiformes - plant parasitic mites (spider mites, peacock mites, gall mites, red-legged earth mites, etc.), snout mites, chiggers, hair follicle mites, velvet mites, water mites, etc.
:
★ Sarcoptiformes - oribatid, endeostigmatan, and astigmatan mites
:
★
★ Endeostigmata - basal sarcoptiform lineages
:
★
★ Oribatida - oribatid mites, beetle mites, armored mites (also cryptostigmata)
:
★
★ Astigmata - stored product, fur, feather, dust, and human itch mites, etc.

★ 'Parasitiformes' is the order/superorder that contains the ticks and a variety of mites.
:Order/Suborder:
:
★ Mesostigmata - bird mites, phytoseiid mites, raubmilben
:
★ Ixodida - hard and soft ticks
:
★ Holothyrida - holothyrans

★ 'Opilioacariformes' is a small order or suborder of parasitiform mites that are superficially similar to harvestmen (opiliones, hence their name).
:Obsolete names:
:
★ Opilioacarida
:
★ Notostigmata

References

1. Mites: Ecology, Evolution and Behaviour, D. E. Walter & H. C. Proctor, , , University of NSW Press, Sydney and CABI, Wallingford, 1999, ISBN 0-86840-529-9

Further reading

★ Experimental and Applied Acarology, ISSN: 1572-9702 (electronic) 0168-8162 (paper), Springer

★ An Introduction to Acarology, E. Baker, , , New York: The MacMillan Company, 1952,

★ Acarology: Mites and Human Welfare, T. Woolley, , , New York: Wiley Interscience, 1988, ISBN 0-47-104168-8

★ Acarology, Proceedings of the 10th International Congress [5-10 July 1998], R. B. Halliday, D. E. Walter, H. C. Proctor, R. A. Norton & M. J. Colloff, , , , 2001, ISBN 0-643-06658-6

★ Mites in soil, an interactive key to mites and other soil microarthropods, D. E. Walter & H. C. Proctor, , , ABRS Identification Series. CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood, Victoria, 2001,

★ A Manual of Acarology, G. W. Krantz, , , Oregon State University Book Stores, Corvallis, OR, 1978, ISBN 0-882-46064-1

External links

★ Acari. The Mites David Evans Walter, Gerald Krantz & Evert Lindquist

★
★ Acariformes. The "mite-like" mites Heather Proctor

★
★ Parasitiformes. Holothyrans, ticks and mesostigmatic mites David Evans Walter

★ Key to Families and Subfamilies of Water Mites (Hydracarina) in Australia Mark Harvey & Heather Proctor

★ Invasive Mite Identification David Evans Walter