Family Trombidiidae - true velvet mites

Classification · Numbers · Size · Food · Remarks · Print References · Works Cited

Velvet Mite at Bronte Creek Park - Trombidium

Parasitic (phoretic?) mite on a Phoridae - Trombidium

Red bug with pink legs on Oak leaf - Allothrombium

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Subphylum Chelicerata (Chelicerates)

Class Arachnida (Arachnids)

Subclass Acari (Mites and Ticks)

Superorder Acariformes

Order Trombidiformes

Suborder Prostigmata (Prostigs)

Infraorder Anystina

No Taxon (Parasitengona)

No Taxon (Trombidiina)

Superfamily Trombidioidea (Velvet Mites and Chiggers)

Family Trombidiidae (true velvet mites)

Numbers

~300 spp. in 30 genera worldwide(1)

Size

Adults generally to 4 mm(2) (but up to 12mm in Giant Red Velvet Mites, genus Dinothrombium)

Food

Larvae parasitize insects and arachnids of all major orders. Adults eat insect eggs. Host associations summarized in(3)

Remarks

From Zhang(3)(1998):

"The Trombidiidae and allied groups are poorly known taxonomically and their classifications are among the most difficult in the Prostigmata. Many species are known only from adults or deutonymphs, some species are known only from larvae and only a few species are known from both the larval and post-larval stages."

Print References

Mąkol, Joanna (2000). Catalogue of the World Trombidiidae (Acari: Actinotrichida: Trombidioidea), Annales Zoologici 50(4):599-625 (Full Text)

Works Cited

1.	Synopsis of the described Arachnida of the World

2.	Spiders and Their Kin: A Golden Guide from St. Martin's Press Herbert W. Levi, Lorna R. Levi, Nicholas Strekalovsky. 2001. St. Martin's Press.

3.	Biology and ecology of trombidiid mites (Acari: Trombidioidea) Z.Q. Zhang. 1998. Experimental and Applied Acarology 22: 139-155.

Contributed by Troy Bartlett on 16 February, 2004 - 1:33pm
Additional contributions by Hannah Nendick-Mason, McClarinJ, Theridula, Aaron Schusteff, kschnei, v belov
Last updated 21 November, 2020 - 9:34am

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