A new family of astigmatid mites from the lies Crozet, sub‐Antarctica; introducing a new concept relating to ontogenetic development of idiosomal setae

• Published in: Journal of Zoology
• Main Author: Griffiths, D. A.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 1977
• Subjects: Possession Island; Seta; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1977.tb03911.x; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1469-7998.1977.tb03911.x; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1977.tb03911.x; https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1977.tb03911.x

Glycacarus combinatus gen . and sp. nov . was collected from the nest of the White chinned petrel ( Procellaria aequinoctialis ) on Possession Island Sub‐Antarctica. It can be distinguished from all other members of the Astigmata by the M‐shaped prodorsal shield and by the fact that it is made up of a complete mixture of the morphological characters which separate the Glycyphagidae from the Acaridae. In order to maintain the present familial structure within the free‐living Astigmata a new family Glycacaridae is proposed. It is suggested that these three families arose from three evolutionary lines which separated from a common ancestor possibly during the Cretaceous period. Ontogenetic development of the body setae is described and a new interpretation of setal homologies relative to different life‐cycle stages is discussed, together with a revised nomenclatural system for the idiosomal seta.