''Labidostomma aethiopica'' is a species of

mite Mites are small arachnids (eight-legged arthropods). Mites span two large orders of arachnids, the Acariformes and the Parasitiformes, which were historically grouped together in the subclass Acari, but genetic analysis does not show clear evid ...

belonging to the family

Labidostommatidae Labidostommatidae is a family of acariform mites. These egg-shaped free-living predators have the body completely covered with sclerotized plates, often with a reticulated pattern, two or three eyes and two claws on each tarsus. Genera ''Bio ...

. This three-eyed oval mite is fairly large for the family but is still less than 1 mm in length. The body is marked with a reticulated pattern, although this becomes faint towards the back. All the legs are shorter than the body. This species has been recorded from

grass Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in law ...

and

soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth or dirt, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, liquids, and organisms that together support life. Some scientific definitions distinguish ''dirt'' from ''soil'' by restricting the former ...

in the vicinity of

Bathurst Bathurst may refer to: Places and jurisdictions Australia * Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia and the following things associated with the city ** Bathurst Region, the local government area for the Bathurst urban area and rural surrounds ** ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...

References

*New species of mites of the families Tydeidae and Labidostommidae (Acarina: Prostigmata) collected from South African plants Magdelena K. P. Meyer & P. A. J. Ryke. Acarologia vol I Trombidiformes Animals described in 1959 Arachnids of Africa {{Trombidiformes-stub