''Balaustium graminum'' is a species of

mite Mites are small arachnids (eight-legged arthropods) of two large orders, the Acariformes and the Parasitiformes, which were historically grouped together in the subclass Acari. However, most recent genetic analyses do not recover the two as eac ...

belonging to the family

Erythraeidae Erythraeidae is a family of mites belonging to the Trombidiformes. Larval forms of these mites are parasitic on various other arthropods, for example harvestmen, but the adults are free-living predators. These oval mites are rather large, usually ...

. This mite is very closely related to and similar to ''

Balaustium medicagoense ''Balaustium medicagoense'' is a species of mite belonging to the family Erythraeidae. This large, densely hairy mite is up to 1.6 mm in length with one pair of eyes set well back on the body. The first pair of legs is just longer than the b ...

'' but has two (rather than one) pairs of eyes and is less densely hairy. The adult is associated with various

grass Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family (biology), family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and spe ...

es in the vicinity of

Grabouw Grabouw ( , ) is a town located in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Grabouw is located some 65 km south-east of Cape Town, over Sir Lowry's Pass from Somerset West, along the N2 (South Africa), N2 highway. The town is the commercia ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

References

*''Nine new species of the superfamily Erythraeoidea (Acarina: Trombidiformes) associated with plants in South Africa'', Magdalena K.P. Meyer & P.A.J. Ryke, Acarologia I Trombidiformes Animals described in 1959 Endemic fauna of South Africa {{Trombidiformes-stub