Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada

Family Caeculidae - Rake-Legged Mites

Black Mite or Tick - Procaeculus Black Mite or Tick - Procaeculus SBBG-SCL-TIC_000666 Cauculidae Caeculidae Need ID confirmation: Caeculidae Caeculidae sp. Mite
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 (Anystae)
Superfamily Caeculoidea
Family Caeculidae (Rake-Legged Mites)
Explanation of Names
Caeculidae Berlese 1883
Identification
Key to adult females of the genus Caeculus (1).
Habitat
Relatively common soil mites in arid and semi-arid areas (Cal Welbourn, pers. comm. to MAQ, 2011); also relatively common on junipers in central Texas (MAQ pers. obs., 2011)
Life Cycle
Generally considered to be predacious (Cal Welbourn, pers. comm. to MAQ, 2011)
Remarks
Author of the family is Antonio Berlese (1863-1927, Florence), an Italian entomologist who invented the Berlese funnel, a device for extracting soil insects and other micro fauna from leaf litter, which is still very widely used.
Print References
Berlese A. (1883) Acari, Myriapoda et Scorpiones hucusque in Italia Reperta, Patavii, fasc. 5(1-2), tav. 21-22.
Franz H. (1952) Revision der Caeculidae Berlese 1883 (Acari). Bonner zool. Beitr. 3: 91-124. Full text
Works Cited
1.A new species of rake-legged mite, Caeculus cassiopeiae (Prostigmata, Caeculidae), from Canada and a systematic analysis....
Jared Bernard, Lisa M. Lumley, Matthias Buck, Tyler P. Cobb. 2020. Zookeys.