Trombidiidae

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Not to be confused with Trombiculidae, similar in name and appearance, but a different family of mites.

Trombidiidae
Temporal range: Palaeogene–present
Trombidium.spec.1706.jpg
Trombidium sp.
Scientific classification e
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Trombidiformes
Superfamily: Trombidioidea
Family: Trombidiidae
Leach, 1815[1]

Trombidiidae, also known as red velvet mites, true velvet mites,[2] or rain bugs, are small arachnids (eight-legged arthropods) found in plant litter and are known for their bright red color.

While adults are typically 4 mm (0.16 in) in length, some, such as the genus Dinothrombium, may reach up to 12 mm (0.47 in).[2]

Their life pattern is in stages similar to other members of the Prostigmata: egg, pre-larva, larva, protonymph, deutonymph, tritonymph and adult (male or female). They usually have only one breeding cycle per year.[3]

They are active predators as grown adults. As early instars they are often parasites of insects[4] and other arachnids.

One well known species from Europe, Asia, and North Africa is Trombidium holosericeum.[5] The systematics of this group has been in flux and many former subfamilies of this are now raised to families within the Trombidioidea.[3][6]

List of genera[]

According to Joanna Makol[7]

  • Trombidiinae Leach, 1815
    • Allothrombium Berlese, 1903 synonyme Corethrothrombium Oudemans, 1928 & Mongolothrombium Feider, 1973
    • Makol, 2007
    • Makol, 2007
    • Haitlinger, 2007
    • Saboori, Bagheri & Haddad, 2005
    • Oudemans, 1927
    • Haitlinger, 2003
    • Southcott, 1986
    • Makol, 2007
    • Dinothrombium Oudemans, 1910
    • Feider, 1945
    • Saboori & Hajiqanbar in Saboori, Hajiqanbar & Irani-nejad 2003
    • Hirst, 1926 synonyme Austrothrombium Womersley, 1934
    • Zhang in Zhang & Norbakhsh 1995
    • Saboori, Bagheri & Haddad 2006
    • Bruyant, 1910
    • Southcott, 1986
    • Makol, 2007
    • Makol, 2007
    • Trombidium Fabricius, 1775 synonyme Kaszabothrombium Fieder, 1973
    • Robaux, 1969
    • Makol, 2007
    • Oudemans, 1927

Human use[]

Dry Trombidium in a Chhattisgarh market

The oil from the red velvet mite is used in traditional Indian medicine to treat paralysis.[8][9]

References[]

  1. ^ Leach, 1815 : A tabular view of the external characters of four classes of animals, which Linné arranged under Insecta; with the distribution of the genera composing three of these classes into orders, and descriptions of several new genera and species. Transactions of the Linnean Society of London, vol. 11, p. 306–400.
  2. ^ a b "Family Trombidiidae - true velvet mites - BugGuide.Net". bugguide.net. BugGuide. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  3. ^ a b Zhang, Zhi-Qiang (1998) Biology and ecology of trombidiid mites (Acari: Trombidioidea) Experimental & Applied Acarology 22:139–155 PDF
  4. ^ L. Conradt, S. A. Corbet, T. J. Roper, E. J. Bodsworth (2002) Parasitism by the mite Trombidium breei on four U.K. butterfly species. Ecological Entomology 27(6):651–659
  5. ^ Mąkol, J.; Wohltmann, Andreas (2000). "A redescription of Trombidium holosericeum (Linnaeus, 1758) (Acari: Actinotrichida: Trombidioidea) with characteristics of all active instars and notes on taxonomy and biology". Annales Zoologici. 50 (1): 67–91.
  6. ^ Makol, Joanna (2007) Generic level review and phylogeny of Trombidiidae and Podothrombiidae (Acari: Actinotrichida: Trombidioidea) of the world. Annales Zoologici 57(1): 1–194
  7. ^ Makol, 2007 : Generic level review and phylogeny of Trombidiidae and Podothrombiidae (Acari: Actinotrichida: Trombidioidea) of the world. Annales Zoologici (Warsaw), vol. 57, n. 1, p. 1-194.
  8. ^ Oudhia, P. 1999b. Traditional medicinal knowledge about red velvet mite Trombidium sp. (Acari: Trombidiidae) in Chhattisgarh. Insect Environment 5(3):113. Archived 7 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ Reddy, T. Karnakar (24 June 2015). "Rare breed of insects in huge demand - The Hindu". The Hindu.
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