Raphignathoidea is a

superfamily SUPERFAMILY is a database and search platform of structural and functional annotation for all proteins and genomes. It classifies amino acid sequences into known structural domains, especially into SCOP superfamilies. Domains are functional, str ...

of the Acari (

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 ...

)

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood ...

Trombidiformes Trombidiformes is a large, diverse order of mites. Taxonomy In 1998, Trombidiformes was divided into the Sphaerolichida and the Prostigmata. The group has few synapomorphies by which it can be defined, unlike the other major group of acariform ...

, comprising 1087

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

in 62

genera Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...

and 12

families Family (from ) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictability, structure, and safety as ...

Morphology

Adult Raphignathoidea are generally oval or round in shape, with 2 pairs of vertical setae on the prodorsum (rarely 3), 2 pairs of scapular setae (rarely 1 or 3), and eyes and postocular bodies usually present. The second and third leg pairs are separated by a gap except in families Cryptognathidae and Raphignathidae. The legs usually bear tarsal claws at the ends. Females and males look similar except that males are often tapered posteriorly, the first and second pseudanal setae are often reduced, the genital and anal openings are fused, and an

aedeagus An aedeagus ( or aedeagi) is a reproductive organ of male arthropods through which they secrete sperm from the testes during copulation (zoology), copulation with a female. It can be thought of as the insect equivalent of a mammal's penis, th ...

(male reproductive organ) is present.

Life cycle

Most Raphignathoidea have five life stages: egg, larva, protonymph, deutonymph and adult. The species ''Agistemus exsertus'' also has a prelarval stage, while the genus ''Raphignathus'' and the family Xenocaligonellididae also have a third nymphal stage, the tritonymph. It generally takes 1-3 weeks for a raphignathoid mite to go from egg to adult, depending on factors such as temperature and diet, with the egg stage having the longest duration. Males develop slightly faster than females. Adult females that have mated produce mostly female offspring (female-biased

sex ratio A sex ratio is the ratio of males to females in a population. As explained by Fisher's principle, for evolutionary reasons this is typically about 1:1 in species which reproduce sexually. However, many species deviate from an even sex ratio, ei ...

). Unmated females can also produce offspring, but these offspring are all male (

arrhenotoky Arrhenotoky (from Greek ἄρρην ''árrhēn'' "male" and τόκος ''tókos'' "birth"), also known as arrhenotokous parthenogenesis, is a form of parthenogenesis in which unfertilized eggs develop into males. In most cases, parthenogenesis pro ...

). Females generally lay 1-4 eggs a day (the rate depending on temperature and diet) over a 1-2 week period.

Ecology

Raphignathoidea contains many

predator Predation is a biological interaction in which one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common List of feeding behaviours, feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation ...

s of small

invertebrate Invertebrates are animals that neither develop nor retain a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''spine'' or ''backbone''), which evolved from the notochord. It is a paraphyletic grouping including all animals excluding the chordata, chordate s ...

s, including

scale insect Scale insects are small insects of the Order (biology), order Hemiptera, suborder Sternorrhyncha. Of dramatically variable appearance and extreme sexual dimorphism, they comprise the infraorder Coccomorpha which is considered a more convenient g ...

crawlers (Coccoidea),

whiteflies Whiteflies are Hemipterans that typically feed on the undersides of plant leaves. They comprise the family Aleyrodidae, the only family in the superfamily Aleyrodoidea. More than 1550 species have been described. Description and taxonomy The A ...

(Aleyrodidae),

caterpillars Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder Sym ...

and other mites. Some Stigmaeidae are

herbivore A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically evolved to feed on plants, especially upon vascular tissues such as foliage, fruits or seeds, as the main component of its diet. These more broadly also encompass animals that eat ...

s feeding on moss, and some Xenocaligonellididae may be microherbivores feeding on substances on the outer layer of tree bark. There are

parasitic Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives (at least some of the time) on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The ent ...

and possibly parasitic raphignathoids in the families Stigmaeidae, Dasythyreidae and

Dytiscacaridae ''Dytiscacarus'' is a genus of Trombidiformes, trombidiform mites that are sub-elytral parasites of diving beetles (Dytiscidae). It is in the Monotypic taxon, monotypic Family (biology), family Dytiscacaridae, and comprises three species. It has ...

. Stigmaeidae have been found on sandflies (

Phlebotominae The Phlebotominae are a subfamily of the family Psychodidae. In several countries, their common name is sandfly, but that name is also applied to other flies. The Phlebotominae include many genera of blood-feeding ( hematophagous) flies, includi ...

), a species of Dasythyreidae has been found on eyed-click beetle (''Alaus myops''), while Dytiscacaridae are highly specialised

parasites Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives (at least some of the time) on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The en ...

living beneath the

elytra An elytron (; ; : elytra, ) is a modified, hardened forewing of beetles (Coleoptera), though a few of the true bugs (Hemiptera) such as the family Schizopteridae are extremely similar; in true bugs, the forewings are called hemelytra (sometime ...

of aquatic beetles (

Dytiscidae The Dytiscidae, from the Ancient Greek word δυτικός (''dystikos''), meaning "able to dive", are the predaceous diving beetles, a family of water beetles. They occur in virtually any freshwater habitat around the world, but a few species l ...

). The superfamily occurs in a range of microhabitats including leaves, branches, tree bark, tree cavities, moss, lichen, animal nests, soil, leaf litter, house dust and stored food products. A few species of Homocaligidae and Stigmaeidae are even aquatic or semi-aquatic.

Distribution

Raphignathoidea mites are abundant on most

continent A continent is any of several large geographical regions. Continents are generally identified by convention (norm), convention rather than any strict criteria. A continent could be a single large landmass, a part of a very large landmass, as ...

s, including a few (e.g. ''Raphignathus johnstoni'') that have colonized

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...

. However, those of the

Neotropical realm The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropics, tropical Ecoregion#Terrestrial, terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperat ...

(

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

) have received relatively little attention.

Biological control

The predatory Raphignathoidea are of some commercial importance, as many are suitable for

biological pest control Biological control or biocontrol is a method of controlling pests, whether pest animals such as insects and mites, weeds, or pathogens affecting animals or plants by using other organisms. It relies on predation, parasitism, herbivory, or ot ...

. They are bred and released to control such plant pests as

gall mite Eriophyidae is a family of more than 200 genera of mites, which live as plant parasites, commonly causing galls or other damage to the plant tissues and hence known as gall mites. About 3,600 species have been described, but this is probably l ...

s (Eriophyidae),

spider mite Spider mites are members of the family Tetranychidae, which includes about 1,200 species. They are part of the subclass Acari (mites). Spider mites generally live on the undersides of leaves of plants, where they may spin protective silk webs, a ...

s (Tetranychidae) or scale insects in

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

and

forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests and woodlands for associated resources for human and Natural environment, environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and ...

Evolution

One raphignathoid species, ''Neophyllobius succineus'' ( Camerobiidae), was discovered in

Baltic amber Baltic amber or succinite is amber from the Baltic region, home of its largest known deposits. It was produced sometime during the Eocene epoch, but exactly when is controversial. It has been estimated that this forested region provided the re ...

of the Upper

Eocene The Eocene ( ) is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (Ma). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes ...

(38–33.9 million years ago).

Families

Most raphignathoid species are in the family Stigmaeidae, with the remaining families being relatively small. Additionally, most of the Raphignathoidea were discovered from 1944 onwards (the year in which family Caligonellidae was described). * Barbutiidae Robaux, 1975 * Caligonellididae Grandjean, 1944 * Camerobiidae Southcott, 1957 * Cryptognathidae Oudemans, 1902 * Dasythyreidae Walter & Gerson, 1998 *

Hajiqanbar & Lindquist, 2018 * Eupalopsellidae Willmann, 1952 * Homocaligidae Wood, 1970 * Mecognathidae Gerson & Walter, 1998 * Raphignathidae Kramer, 1877 * Stigmaeidae Oudemans, 1931 * Xenocaligonellididae Gonzalez, 1978

References

External links

Checklist of raphignathoid mites (Acari: Raphignathoidea) of Turkey

Raphignathoidea of China: a review of research progress
{{Taxonbar, from=Q4048024 Arachnid superfamilies