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Parasitengona

Velvet Mite - Trombidium Erythraeidae? - Balaustium Largish Red Velvet Mite - Callidosoma Long-legged Erythraeid Mites Feeding on a Wolf Spider - Erythraeus Velvet Mite? - Trombidium Mite on leafhopper nymph on starflower Velvet Mite Water 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 Parasitengona
Explanation of Names
Parasitengona Oudemans 1909
Numbers
16 superfamilies: 8 terrestrial and 8 aquatic.
Range
Worldwide
Food
Generally, larvae are ectoparasitic on arthropods, but certain groups feed on vertebrates (e.g., chiggers) and others are free-living. Post-larval stages (nymph and adult) are generally predators on other arthropods (esp. immobile stages such as eggs/pupae), but certain groups have evolved to subsist on other food sources (e.g., pollenivory in Balaustium).
Life Cycle
Complete life cycle consisting of egg, prelarva, larva, nymphal stages (proto-, deuto-, and tritonymph), and adult. Active stages include the parasitic larvae and free-living deutonymph and adult. Inactive stages (calyptostases) include egg, prelarva, protonymph (nymphochrysalis), and tritonymph (imagochrysalis).
Remarks
The red mites attached to arthropod hosts are almost always larvae belonging to this group. The ancestral life cycle of the parasitengones is to have a parasitic larva; regressive, inactive protonymph; active predatory deutonymph; regressive tritonymph; and active predatory adult. - Barry O'Connor