Taxonomy of Rhodacaroidea mites (Acari: Mesostigmata)

• Ano de defesa: 2012
• Autor(a) principal: Castilho, Raphael de Campos
• Tipo de documento: Tese
• Tipo de acesso: Acesso aberto
• Idioma: eng
• Instituição de defesa: Biblioteca Digitais de Teses e Dissertações da USP
• Palavras-chave em Português: Ácaros de solo; Ácaros predadores; Biological control; Classificação; Classification; Controle biológico; Predatory mites; Soil mites
• Link de acesso: http://www.teses.usp.br/teses/disponiveis/11/11146/tde-23032012-085844/

The mite superfamily Rhodacaroidea is a member of the order Mesostigmata. The families Digamasellidae Evans, Halolaelapidae Karg, Laelaptonyssidae Womersley, Ologamasidae Ryke, Rhodacaridae Oudemans and Teranyssidae Halliday constitute this superfamily. The main morphological characteristic considered in this study for inclusion of mites in the Rhodacaroidea is the insertion of seta st4 on the sternal shield. These mites have been found in soil, litter, rodent nests, mosses, lichens, termite nests, on Coleoptera [mainly bark beetles (Curculionidae: Scolytinae)] and in galleries made by them in tree trunks. Digamasellids, ologamsids and rhodacarids are commonly mentioned in the literature as predators of nematodes, small insects, mites and springtails, and at least one species, appears to have potential as a biological control agent against insect and mite pests in the soil. The taxonomic concepts of the families belonging to Rhodacaroidea are confusing do to the frequent taxonomic changes over time. As a consequence, it has been quite often difficult to determine to which family a determined species of this group belongs. Several authors contributed significantly to the taxonomic knowledge of Rhodacaroidea, but few are still professionally active. The general objective of this thesis was to establish the bases to facilitate the identification of Rhodacaroidea mites. Diagnoses of the genera of Rhodacaridae, a key for their identification and an updated list of the species within each genus were prepared. This family is presently composed of 148 species arranged in 15 genera. A dichotomous key to the genera as well as updated and complemented lists of the species within each genus of Digamasellidae, Laelaptonyssidae, Ologamasidae and Teranyssidae were also prepared. Digamasellidae is composed of 277 species arranged in 11 genera, Laelaptonyssidae, 8 species in one genus, Ologamasidae 450 species in 44 genera and Teranyssidae, a single species. The species of the rhodacarid genera Interrhodeus Karg, Pennarhodeus Karg, Poropodalius Karg and Protogamasellopsis Evans and Purvis were examined and a characterization of the genera, diagnoses of each species, complementary descriptions of some species and a key to help in the separation of the species of each genus were provided. The re-examination of those species allowed the conclusion that they are correctly placed in the Rhodacaridae. Also as result of this work, a new genus and five new species of Rhodacaridae and four new species of Ologamasidae were described and new records of mites of those groups were determined, as the result of analyses of mites from southern Brazil and Iran. A taxonomic key to separate the 60 species of Gamasiphis (Ologamasidae) described from different parts of the world was prepared. The study conducted represents a significant contribution to the knowledge of the taxonomy of Rhodacaroidea.