Oribatid Mites: A Catalogue of Australian Genera and Species

By MJ Colloff and RB Halliday

Oribatid mites are ancient, minute arthropods that live in soil, plant litter, mosses and lichens, and on trees and shrubs. Prior to the production of this catalogue, Australian Oribatid mites had been poorly documented. This catalogue summarises our knowledge of the fauna of Australian Oribatid mites, including many new records of species and genera. It forms a fundamental resource for anyone interested in these important organisms and their role in soil ecology and as environmental indicators.

• Language: English
• Publisher: CSIRO PUBLISHING
• Release date: Jan 1, 1998
• ISBN: 9780643105904

Book preview

ORIBATID MITES

A CATALOGUE OF AUSTRALIAN GENERA AND SPECIES

Monographs on Invertebrate Taxonomy

Other books in the series:

Vol. 1. Australian Lauxaniid Flies

Revision of the Australian species of Homoneura van der Wulp,

Trypetisoma Malloch, and allied genera (Diptera: Lauxaniidae)

SP Kim

Vol. 2. Click Beetles

Genera of the Australian Elateridae (Coleoptera)

AA Calder

Vol. 3. Australian Ants

A Guide to the Genera

SO Shattuck

Vol. 4. The Australian Water Mites

A guide to Families and Genera

MS Harvey

Vol. 5. Mites of Australia

A Checklist and Bibliography

RB Halliday

ORIBATID MITES

A CATALOGUE OF AUSTRALIAN GENERA AND SPECIES

MONOGRAPHS ON INVERTEBRATE TAXONOMY VOL. 6

MATTHEW COLLOFF

BRUCE HALLIDAY

National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry

Colloff, Matthew.

Oribatid mites – a catalogue of Australian genera and species.

Bibliography.

Includes index.

ISBN 0 643 06371 4

1. Oribatidae – Australia. 2. Oribatidae – Australia – Identification.

I. Halliday, Robert B. II. CSIRO.

III. Title. (Series: Monographs on invertebrate taxonomy; vol. 6).

595.42

© CSIRO Australia 1998

This book is available from:

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Published with support from

The Schlinger Foundation

and The ANIC Fund

Printed in Australia

ORIBATID MITES

A Catalogue of A ustralian Genera and Species

Contents

Introduction

Palaeosomata Grandjean, 1969

Enarthronota Grandjean, 1947

Parhyposomata J. Balogh and Mahunka, 1979

Mixonomata Grandjean, 1969

Desmonomata Woolley, 1973

[= Holosomatina J. Balogh and Mahunka, 1979]

Brachypylina Hull, 1918

References

Index

INTRODUCTION

This is the first catalogue of Australian Oribatid mites and is intended as a primary work of reference for acarologists, soil biologists, ecologists and anyone undertaking studies on these organisms. This catalogue is a compilation of all known records and summarises our knowledge of the fauna of Australian Oribatid mites. It contains a comprehensive taxonomic coverage and includes many new records of species and genera that have not previously been recorded from Australia, not just those in the published literature. Many records come from museums outside Australia.

The catalogue forms a fundamental resource for anyone interested in the application of these important organisms in soil ecology and in environmental indicator research, as well as providing a full and up-to-date bibliographic and taxonomic work of reference. It is designed to compliment the DELTA CD-ROM interactive key to Oribatid Mites of Australia (Hunt et al., 1998) and the checklist of Australian mites (Halliday, 1998) and provides full details of nomenclatorial data on each species, where type material has been deposited, references to published descriptions and illustrations of each species, their distribution within Australia and elsewhere, as well as information on taxonomy and classification.

Recently, it has been proposed that the diverse and economically important order Astigmata evolved from within the oribatid superfamily Trhypochthonioidea. The Astigmata are not considered herein, as the appropriate taxonomic hierarchy has not been determined within the Oribatida for taxa previously regarded as Astigmata. Records of Australian Astigmata are in the checklist of Halliday (1998).

The Catalogue contains a number of taxonomic amendments, making it a primary taxonomic work.

All scientific names, authorship and dates thereof, and literature references have been checked using the original literature, rather than secondary sources. Misidentifications, errors in the literature, synonymies, and other important nomenclatorial and taxonomic information have been documented. This Catalogue also contains a comprehensive bibliography and a complete index.

Oribatid mites — some basic information

Oribatid mites are ancient, minute (ca. 200–1400 μm long) arthropods that live in soil, plant litter, mosses, lichens, and on trees and shrubs. They are highly diverse: about 10000 species have been described worldwide, possibly representing about 10% of the total fauna. Oribatid mites are among the most abundant and diverse groups of animals living in soil. There they contribute to plant litter decomposition, soil formation and nutrient cycling. In addition, through their feeding activity they are important in the regulation of fungal and nematode populations, including pathogenic species. They are extremely important organisms in maintaining soil health and fertility and have considerable capacity as indicators of soil health and environmental quality.

The body of adult oribatids is usually well sclerotised and may vary in colour from light tan to brown to black. The different stages in the life-cycle comprise an egg, prelarva, larva, protonymph, deutonymph, tritonymph and adult. Many species, especially in the Desmonomata, are parthenogenetic and where mating occurs it is almost always by indirect sperm transfer via spermatophores. Copulation is restricted to those taxa contained within the Astigmata.

Much of our knowledge of the morphology, terminology and classification of the Oribatida is based on the work of the French acarologist, François Grandjean. His complete acarological works have been reprinted in seven volumes (Ouvres Acarologique Complètes) edited by van der Hammen (1972–1976). Important keys to the Oribatida include those by Sellnick (1928, revised 1960), Willmann (1931), J. Balogh (1972), J. and P. Balogh (1988; 1990), J. Balogh and Mahunka (1983) and J. and P. Balogh (1992).

Economic importance

The economic importance of oribatid mites has tended to have been overshadowed by their importance in soil formation and the maintenance of soil fertility. Furthermore, there have been relatively few studies that examine their detrimental and beneficial roles — the vast bulk of research on oribatid mites having been in the field of taxonomy. However, there are a number of reports that implicate them both as pests and beneficials in agriculture, horticulture and the control of noxious weeds (Table 1).

Biological Control of Pests

Oribatids play a role in controlling populations of pest fungi such as. Rhizoctonia, whicg causes radish root rot. Enami and Nakamura (1996) found that Scheloribates azumaensis feeding on Rhizoctonia prevents the damaging effects of radish root rot. Oribatids have also been implicated in the control of pestiferous nematodes.

Oribatid mites have the potential as biocontrol agents of certain noxious weeds, most prominently of the South American Water Hyacinth, Eichhornia crassipes (Sheela and Haq, 1988; Singh et al., 1988), which is present in Australia. Sumangala and Haq (1990) investigated the potential of galumnoid oribatids for Water Hyacinth control (cf. also Wallwork, 1965; Haq and Konikkara, 1989). Del Fosse (1977, 1978) reported on the optimum temperature for the development of Orthogalumna terebrantis and its interaction with the Water Hyacinth Weevil, Neochetina eichorniae, respectively, and Del Fosse et al. (1975) determined the feeding mechanism of O. terebrantis.

Lan et al. (1986) report that Dometorina predatoria eats gall mites (eriophyids) on orange trees, and McClure (1995) and Cheah et al. (1995) report on the control of Hemlock Wooly Adelgid, Adelges tsugae, with Diapterobates humeralis.

Agricultural and Horticultural Pests

Some oribatids are minor agricultural pests in their own right. Ramani and Haq (1991) reviewed the literature and surveyed oribatids on economically important plants. A few species were found to eat green leaves. Table 1 contains a list of economically important plants that have been reported to be damaged by oribatid mites.

Table 1. Oribatid potential pest species associated with agricultural and horticultural crops

Intermediate Vectors of Tapeworms

Various oribatid species found in pastures act as vectors for certain tapeworms of sheep, cattle and horses (reviewed by Denegri, 1993). There is a considerable literature on this subject, with over 80 oribatid species acting as intermediate hosts for a variety of different tapeworm species. Many references post-1993 can be found on the CABI database. They are far too numerous to cite here. Oribatids appear to be of particular veterinary importance in those parts of world where the use of veterinary anthelmintic drugs such as the milbemycins is either prohibitively expensive or otherwise impractical, thus many recent reports are from various parts of the former Soviet Union, India and China.

Vectors of Fungal Diseases

Oribatids have been implicated as vectors of the fungal disease, Chestnut Blight (Nannelli and Maresi, 1991; Nannelli and Turschetti, 1992).

Indicators of Environmental Quality

Oribatids are important indicators of environmental quality, not only in soils but also in freshwater — some species have become secondarily aquatic. They have also been used as test organisms in monitoring the effects of heavy metals on invertebrates (Denneman and van Straalen, 1991). Aoki (1979) presented a detailed review of the occurrence of members of different oribatid families in a series of habitats exposed to varying degrees of human disturbance. Further references on the role of oribatids as bioindicators are given by Marshall et al. (1987).

Associations with Fish, Amphibia and Mammals

Some aquatic oribatid species have been implicated as detrimental to aquarium fish, for example, Hydronothrus aquariorum (= Trhypochthoniellus crasssus) and Hydrozetes sp. as ‘ectoparasites’ of discus fish (Fain and Lambrechts, 1987a, b; Fain et al., 1988).

Bader (1963) cites reference to Brachychthonius sp. being a parasite of Japygidae, and Oudemans (1915) implicates Platynothrus peltifer as an ectoparasite of sheep, causing ovine scabies, though the true nature of this association is far from clear.

Nuisance Pests in Buildings and Human Habitation

Oribatids are occasionally minor invasive pests of human dwellings (e.g. Humerobates rostrolamellatus; Scott, 1958) and other buildings (Aoki, 1963). They are often found in house dust samples, though rarely in large numbers.

Quarantine Significance

Oribatids are of considerable quarantine significance, particularly for Australia. Mites have been found in imported produce such as cut flowers and horticultural crops and often results in the produce being fumigated (at the expense of the importer) or even its destruction or return to the country of origin.

The Australian Oribatid fauna

Prior to the production of this Catalogue, the Australian fauna has been poorly known and documented. About 10 000 species have been described, but only 340 described species have been recorded from Australia. This represents a very small proportion of the species actually present. Any attempt to estimate that proportion would be little more than a guess. Some 256 species are described from Australian type localities and have not been recorded elsewhere.

There is very uneven habitat, geographical and taxonomic coverage of the Australian species: the majority of oribatid species are recorded from either tropical or sub-tropical rainforest soil and litter in Queensland and New South Wales or from arid grassland and savanna-type woodland in South Australia.

Coverage by Geographical Locality

The numbers of records of described species for each state and territory are: Australian Capital Territory: 7; New South Wales, 85 (including 1 from Norfolk Island and 1 from Lord Howe Island); Northern Territory, 5; Queensland, 81; South Australia, 95; Tasmania, 54; Victoria, 14; Western Australia, 15. Additionally, 18 species have been recorded from Macquarie Island, 11 from Heard Island and 2 from Australian Antarctic Dependency. Geographic coverage is shown in Figure 1.

Coverage by Habitat/Vegetation Type

It is difficult to get a clear picture of vegetation types from many of the records. Either it is not stated or it is marvellously, uselessly vague (e.g. ‘Eucalyptus forest’, ‘native vegetation’ or ‘forest reserve’). There are 95 records of described and undescribed species from rainforest (temperate, sub-tropical and tropical) with 38 species recorded from Nothofagus forest. Semi-arid or savanna woodland yielded 33 species records, with 46 species from dry sclerophyll forest, 24 from wet sclerophyll forest and 38 from mallee eucalypt woodland.

Taxonomic coverage

Some taxa appear grossly over-represented simply because somebody has worked up the fauna of that particular taxon, e.g. eupththiracaroids and phthiracaroids number some 71 described species, all but a handful described by Niedbala. Likewise, the 43 species of Plateremaeoidea are due almost exclusively to the work of Hunt; the 41 species of Oppiidae were mostly described by Mahunka, J. and P. Balogh, and the 57 species of Oripodoidea by Lee and co-workers.

Coverage by superfamily is given in Table 2. Of the superfamilies given by J. and P. Balogh (1992), taking into account differences of opinion in classification, the Australian oribatid fauna consists of representatives of all but 8 of them. In the Enarthronota, Atopochthonoidea has not been recorded, and the highest concentration of absentees is in the Mixonomata, with Eulohmannoidea, Perlohmannoidea Collohmannoidea and Nehypochthonoidea not represented. All Palaeosomata and Desmonomata superfamilies have been recorded, and in the Brachypylina, Damaeoidea, Zetorchestoidea and Idiozetoidea remain unrecorded.

Of these unrecorded superfamilies, several contain relatively few species (e.g. Atopochthonioidea, 4 spp.; Eulohmannioidea, 2 spp., consisting mostly of northern hemisphere species). The only really biogeographically significant omission from the Australian fauna is members of the large, predominantly Holarctic superfamily Damaeoidea. There are no superfamilies indigenous to Australia.

Previous Research on Australian Oribatida

The first record of an oribatid mite was of Leiosoma sp. (= Liodes sp.) from grapevines in Queensland, recorded by Henry Tryon (1889), then government entomologist with the Queensland Department of Agriculture, formerly assistant curator at the Queensland Museum (Mather, 1986). Rainbow (1906) quotes Tryon’s record, and writes of Australian oribatids:

…the group has not been touched in Australia, notwithstanding the fact that quite a number of species occur, and some are stored away in private collections. I have seen specimens from the Jenolan District. In 1897 Canestrini described several from German New Guinea. Tryon has recorded one under the name Leiosoma sp. from Durundur, Q., but this is the only reference I can find.

Apart from a handful of records (Banks, 1916; Womersley, 1945; Hammer, 1953; Roberts, 1953; Womersley, 1956) the situation remarked upon by Rainbow continued until the publication of the work of Balogh and Mahunka (1966). Prior to 1966, there were only 9 species (one of them a fossil) known from Australia. Thus our current knowledge of the Australian Oribatid fauna has been the product of research undertaken only in the last 3 decades.

Figure 1 Map showing the geographical coverage of this catalogue. Abbreviations: ACT= Australian Capital Territory; NSW = New South Wales; NT = Northern Territory; QLD = Queensland; SA = South Australia; TAS = Tasmania; WA = Western Australia; VIC = Victoria.

Table 2. Numbers of named species and un-named species in each superfamily recorded from Australia. The number of described species only recorded from continental Australia and Tasmania is given in parentheses.

Balogh and Mahunka (1966) commence their paper, in which they describe 8 new genera and species, by stating simply: In the course of the zoological investigation of Australian soils in the latter years a rich oribatid material was collected. Thus was heralded the real start of oribatological research in Australia. The work of the Hungarians resulted in 10 papers published between 1966 and 1996 (J. Balogh, 1982; P. Balogh, 1985a, 1985b; Mahunka, 1989; J. and P. Balogh, 1983a, 1983b; J. Balogh and Mahunka, 1966; 1975, 1978, 1996), containing descriptions of one new family, 18 new genera and 96 new species.

David Lee (1933–1994) has contributed more than any other researcher to our knowledge of the Australian oribatid fauna. His work commenced in the mid-1970s when he made extensive collections from soil and plant litter of nine distinctive vegetation types in South Australia including native vegetation (arid grassland, semi-arid shrubland, mallee-broombrush and mallee-heath, coastal scrubland, savanna woodland and sclerophyll forest) as well as plantation pine forest and cultivated pasture. The material collected from these sites comprises some 132 species in 74 genera and 42 families. Of these, 57 species and 2 subspecies were described by Lee and co-workers in some 17 papers between 1981 and 1995 (cf. Luxton, 1995), and several taxa were revised, redescribed and keyed.

David Lee died prematurely in June 1994 with his work incomplete. At the time of his death, he was working on a synthesis of the oribatid community structure in the different vegetation types, together with a paper on the biogeography of the taxa he had found. Also, some 52 species in 13 superfamilies were recognised as new (Lee, 1986 and in litt.) but remain undescribed, including 18 species of Oppiioidea, 10 species of Ceratozetoidea and 5 of Galumnoidea. Fortunately these taxa are clearly identified and illustrated in his notebooks and in an annotated copy of his PhD thesis, which are housed, in good order, along with his collection, in the South Australian Museum. This material forms the most significant archive of Australian oribatid research in existence.

Classification

The Catalogue reflects current classification of Oribatids, based for higher taxa on the work of Grandjean (1954, 1965, 1969) and J. and P. Balogh (1992). Classification of taxa of family or superfamily level usually follows the most recent revisionary work (e.g. Subias and P. Balogh, [1989] for Oppiidae, Lee [1991] for the Oripodoidea and Niedbala [1986, 1994] for Phthiracaroidea) with some notable exceptions which are mentioned in the text.

Combinations and Synonymies

The following points apply. The lists of combinations and synonymies do not pretend to be exhaustive. We have done our best, but have not tracked down every possible usage. When citing the authorship of a species by a subsequent author, we have quoted the authorship verbatim, even though the authorship may be incorrect. Amongst the citations under Comb./Syn appear a number that seem to be neither different combinations nor synonymies. These represent, for convenience, citations of records that occur in Australia or records pertinent to them (such as descriptions, taxonomic revisions, biological details and other data).

Published and Unpublished Records

This Catalogue contains details of published records of oribatid mites from Australia. Also included are a number of unpublished records, especially relating to genera which are clearly present in Australia but which would otherwise go unrecorded. Quarantine interceptions have not been recorded, though they are included by Halliday (1998).

Locality data

Full details of locality records are given, which will be of value in determining the geographical distribution and habitat preferences of species (although many are only known from the type locality. Spellings and latitudes and longitudes follow those given in eGAZ (Shattuck, 1998) based on the Australian Gazetteer.

Biogeography

The Catalogue provides an overview of the composition of the Australian fauna, with its highly endemic make-up, as a basis for comparison with other published oribatid faunal catalogues and monographs (South and North America, New Zealand, Oceania, Northern Europe, Russia). No biogeographical analysis is attempted herein.

Nomenclature

Marie Hammer did not designate type-species for a number of genera that she described between 1961 and 1973. Genera recorded from Australia include Amerioppia Hammer, 1961 and Multioppia Hammer, 1961. Thus, technically her authorship of these genera is invalid. Some of these genera have been quoted by other authors as having Balogh (1965) as author. However, J. and P. Balogh (1992, p. 7) state that they feel it would be unfair to Hammer for her to lose authorship of these genera and that: an application is in the process of being submitted to ICZN to recognise the original author of these genera. In the hope that the petition will be acknowledged, Hammer is considered as author in this work Likewise, we follow J. and P. Balogh (1992) herein.

Type Depositories and Australian Law

Type depositories have been checked wherever possible, but to verify them all would be extremely time-consuming, so usually the literature citation regarding the whereabouts of the type has had to be taken on trust. There are a number of species where the literature citation differs from the actual depository, notably a number of species currently in J. Balogh’s collection, Eotvos Lorand University, Budapest, which were to be deposited in the Australian National Insect Collection, Canberra. This fact is pointed out in the text under the entry for the appropriate species. For those mites only identified as far as genus, the rule of thumb we have applied is to assume they are in the custody of the first author of the publication in which the record is cited, unless stated otherwise.

Under Australian law, collection and exportation of flora and fauna is subject to very strict rules and guidelines. A collection permit must be obtained from the relevant State Authorities for all material collected in National Parks, State Forests and Crown Land. The permits usually stipulate that any material which subsequently is designated as type material must be lodged in a state museum or other collection. Additionally, primary types collected after 1982 must be deposited in an Australian institution. The penalty for failure to comply can include removal of the offending institution from the list of approved institutions under the International Convention on Threatened and Endangered Species (CITES). It is illegal to export flora and fauna collected in Australia without an export licence, including loans of specimens held in Australian institutions.

It is very important in the future interests of accurate description and documentation of the Australian fauna and flora that taxonomists from outside Australia are made aware of these laws and that they comply by depositing type material with an appropriate Australian institution.

Significant Collections of Australian Oribatid Material

The most significant holdings are in the Australian National Insect Collection, the Australian Museum, the South Australian Museum (cf. above), the Hungarian Natural History Museum, Roy Norton, personal collection, J. Balogh personal collection and the Canadian National Insect Collection. Holdings in the Natural History Museum, London, include Wallwork’s collection, comprising material from the Australian Antarctic zone and the Sub-antarctic islands of Heard and Macquarie. Unsorted Australian material in the Natural History Museum, examined by M.J.C in 1997, is scant, and has been worked through by many anonymous researchers.

Oribatid mites from Tasmania

This material includes specimens in some 300+ samples collected during the Tasmanian Rainforest Invertebrate Survey funded by Parks and Wildlife Service, Tasmania, and Department of Environment, Sports and Territories (Coy et al., 1993), and 194 samples collected during an evaluation of methods of rapid biodiversity assessment funded by Department of Environment, Sports and Territories (Trueman and Cranston, 1994). The material collected by Coy et al (1993) came from 12 sites in the main conservation regions of Tasmania, including four different types of rainforest: callidendrous, thamnic, implicate and open montane forest, much of it stands of Nothofagus spp. Over 800 invertebrate species have been recognised so far. The euptyctime oribatid mites from these samples have been sorted and described (Niedbala and Colloff, 1997; 31 spp., 21 new) and the crotonioid material from some of the samples sorted by Olsanowski (pers. comm. to M.J.C. 1996). The bulk of the remaining mite material is unsorted and is housed in the Australian National Insect Collection. The value of this material is not only the high proportion of endemic taxa present, but the contribution that the subsequent taxonomic research can make to estimates of conservation evaluation using estimates of phylogenetic diversity (Faith, 1992).

The material collected by Trueman and Cranston (1994) is unsorted and housed in the Australian National Insect Collection. It came from a 40 km transect in north-east Tasmania and was selected because of its range of habitats and rainfall. The transect crosses four major terrestrial ecosystems (temperate wet sclerophyll forest with stands of Nothofagus; dry sclerophyll forest, coastal heathland and buttongrass swamp) and is aligned with the second steepest rainfall gradient in eastern Australia (600–2500 mm).

Berlese Funnel Extraction Collections

The Australian National Insect Collection, the Queensland Museum and the Field Museum, Chicago, contain extensive collections of unsorted bulk extractions of arthropods from Berlese funnels samples from Australian Localities. That in ANIC comprises approximately 1800 samples, together with a computerised catalogue.

Acknowledgements

We wish to thank the following people for the time and effort they have expended in assisting us to complete this catalogue. Glenn Hunt (Australian Museum, Sydney), Roy Norton (College of Environmental Science and Forestry, State University of New York, Syracuse), Malcolm Luxton (National Museum of Wales, Cardiff), Valerie Behan-Pelletier (Biosystematics Research Centre, Agriculture Canada, Ottawa) and David Walter (Department of Entomology, University of Queensland) have all read the draft at various stages of development and made valuable comments and corrected many errors. Any remaining errors are our responsibility, not theirs. David Hirst (South Australian Museum, Adelaide) kindly allowed copies of David Lee’s notes to be made. These have been invaluable. Philip Lawless, Queensland Museum, provided data on Queensland Crotonia material and Ebbe Nielsen (Australian National Insect Collection, Canberra) provided support and enthusiasm for this project and goaded us sufficiently to get the manuscript finished on time. Finally, Kevin Jeans and Marta Veroni (CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne) provided first-rate editorial skills and were a pleasure to work with.

Figure 2 Stomacarus abresi Lee, 1980 (Oribatida: Palaeosomata) (modified after Lee, 1980).

PALAEOSOMATA GRANDJEAN, 1969

ARCHEONOTHROIDEA Grandjean, 1954

ARCHEONOTHRIDAE GRANDJEAN, 1954

Archeonothridae Grandjean, 1954

Type-genus: Archeonothrus Trägårdh, 1906 (cf. Grandjean, 1954, Bull Soc. Zool. Fr., 78: 428.)

Genus Loflacarus Lee, 1981

Loflacarus Lee, 1981

Type-species: Loftacarus siefi Lee, 1981

Loftacarus siefi Lee, 1981

Comb./syn.: Loflacarus siefiLee, 1981, Ree. S. Austr. Mus., 18: 208, figs 10–18.

Type depository: South Australian Museum, Adelaide.

Type locality: Mt. Lofty, South Australia

Description: Adult female: dorsal and ventral aspects, chelicera, gnathosoma, palp, ovipositor, legs (incomplete), leg chaetotaxy. Adult male: spermapositor (Lee, 1981).

Australian records: SOUTH AUSTRALIA: holotype female (N197646), paratype female (N197647), allotype male (N197648), moss and litter under Eucalyptus obliqua, sclerophyll forest, Mt. Lofty, coll. D.C. Lee, 9.V.1974 (Lee, 1981).

Distribution: Australia (Lee, 1981).

Loftacarus sp.

Cited as: Loflacarus sp.: Walter and Proctor, 1998, Exp. Appl. Acarol, 22(1): 46.

Depository: Department of Entomology, University of Queensland.

Australian records: NEW SOUTH WALES: forest litter, Lamington National Park. QUEENSLAND: forest litter, Lobster Creek (26°40’S 152°49’E) (Walter and Proctor, 1998).

ACARONYCHIDAE GRANDJEAN, 1932

Acaronychidae Grandjean, 1932

Type-genus: Acaronychus Grandjean, 1932, Bull. Mus. natn. Hist, nat., (2)4: 426.

Genus Stomacarus Grandjean, 1952

Stomacarus Grandjean, 1952

Type-species: Stomacarus tristani Grandjean, 1952, Bull. Mus. natn. Hist, nat., (2)24: 360.

Andacarus Grandjean, 1958, Bull. Mus. natn. Hist, nat., (2)30: 81.

Type-species: Stomacarus macfarlani Grandjean, 1957 (cf. Lee, 1981, Rec. S. Austr. Mus., 18: 204.)

Stomacarus abresi Lee, 1981

Comb./syn.: Stomacarus abresi Lee, 1981, Rec. S. Austr. Mus., 18: 204, figs 2–9.

Type depository: South Australian Museum, Adelaide.

Type locality: Mt. Lofty, South Australia.

Description: Adult female: dorsal and ventral aspects, chelicera, gnathosoma, palp, ovipositor, legs (incomplete), leg chaetotaxy. Adult male: spermapositor (Lee, 1981).

Australian records: SOUTH AUSTRALIA: holotype female (N197613), 19 paratype females (N197614-N197632), allotype male (N197633), 2 paratype males (N197634 and N197635), moss and litter under Eucalyptus obliqua, sclerophyll forest, Mt. Lofty, coll. D.C. Lee, 9.V.1974. Undesignated female (N197636) and male (N197645), litter under Eucalyptus incrassata, mallee, Ferries-McDonald Reserve, coll. D.C. Lee, 20.vi. 1974. Undesignated protonymph (N197784), litter under Pinuspinea, Knott Hill Forest, coll. D.C. Lee, 22.5.1974 (Lee, 1981).

Distribution: Australia (Lee, 1981).

Stomacarus leei Mahunka, 1989

Comb./syn.: Stomacarus leei Mahunka, 1989, Acta Zool. Hung, 35: 43, figs 1–7.

Type depository: Transvaal Museum, Pretoria (holotype, 1 paratype); Hungarian Natural History Museum, Budapest (2 paratypes [1314-PO-88]); Museum d’Histoire Naturelle, Geneva (1 paratype).

Type locality: Collinsvale, Tasmania.

Description: dorsal aspect, prodorsum, apodemata, anogenital region, leg I, mentum, chelicera, palp (Mahunka,1989).

Australian records: TASMANIA: holotype and 4 paratypes, Collinsvale, coll. S. Endr mentum, chelicera, palp (Mahunka, 1989).

Distribution: Australia (Mahunka, 1989).

Stomacarus watsoni (Travé, 1964)

Comb./syn.: Andacarus watsoni Travé, 1964, Pacific Insects Monogr., 7 (suppl.): 647, figs 1, 2.

Andacarus watsoni: Wallwork, 1966, Pacific Insects, 8(4): 851.

Stomacarus watsoni (Travé, 1964): Lee, 1981, Rec. S. Austr. Mus., 18: 204.

Type depository: Laboratoire