Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 14, 2026

Holothyrida

The Holothyrida are a small order of mites in the superorder Parasitiformes. No fossils are known. With body lengths of more than 2 mm they are relatively large mites, with a heavily sclerotized body. It is divided into three families, Allothyridae, Holothyridae, and Neothyridae. In a 1998 experimental study, members of the family Allothyridae were found to ignore living animals but readily fed on the body fluids of dead arthropods, making them scavengers.

Last revised
Jun 14, 2026
Read time
≈ 2 min
Length
485 w
Citations
2
Source
Holothyrida
Sternothyrus braueri, a member of Holothyridae
Underside of male (left) and female (right) of Diplothyrus lecorrei (Neothyridae)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Superorder: Parasitiformes
Order: Holothyrida
Families

See text.

Diversity
10 genera, > 25 species

The Holothyrida are a small order of mites in the superorder Parasitiformes. No fossils are known. With body lengths of more than 2 mm (332 in) they are relatively large mites, with a heavily sclerotized body. It is divided into three families, Allothyridae, Holothyridae, and Neothyridae. In a 1998 experimental study, members of the family Allothyridae were found to ignore living animals but readily fed on the body fluids of dead arthropods, making them scavengers.1

The order has a distribution largely confined to former Gondwanan landmasses. They are the sister group to Ixodida (ticks).2

Systematics

Allothyridae

Allothyridae van der Hammen, 1972Australia, New Zealand

  • Allothyrus van der Hammen, 1961
  • Allothyrus australasiae (Womersley, 1935)
  • Allothyrus constrictus (Domrow, 1955)
  • Australothyrus van der Hammen, 1983
  • Australothyrus ocellatus van der Hammen, 1983

Holothyridae

Holothyridae Thorell, 1882 Sri Lanka, Indian Ocean islands, New Guinea, New Caledonia

  • Sternothyrus Lehtinen, 1995
  • Indothyrus Lehtinen, 1995
    • Indothyrus greeni Lehtinen, 1995Sri Lanka
  • Haplothyrus Lehtinen, 1995
    • Haplothyrus expolitissimus (Berlese, 1924) — New Caledonia
    • Haplothyrus hyatti Lehtinen, 1995 — unknown locality
  • Holothyrus Gervais, 1842Mauritius
    • Holothyrus coccinella Gervais, 1842
    • Holothyrus legendrei Hammen, 1983
  • Hammenius Lehtinen, 1981
    • Hammenius armatus (Canestrini, 1897)Tamara Island (Aitape): New Guinea
    • Hammenius berlesei (Lehtinen, 1995) — New Guinea
    • Hammenius braueri (Thon, 1906)
    • Hammenius fujuge Lehtinen, 1981New Guinea (Central District, Oro Province)
    • Hammenius grandjeani (Hammen, 1961)Mount Bosavi: New Guinea
    • Hammenius holthuisi van der Hammen, 1983
    • Hammenius ingii Lehtinen, 1981 — New Guinea
    • Hammenius insularis Lehtinen, 1995Louisiade Archipelago: New Guinea
    • Hammenius longipes (Thorell, 1882) — Fly River, New Guinea (?)
    • Hammenius mendi (Lehtinen, 1995)Strickland River: New Guinea
    • Hammenius montanus Hammen, 1983Irian Jaya
    • Hammenius niger (Thon, 1906)

Neothyridae

Neothyridae Lehtinen, 1981 Northern South America and the Caribbean

  • Diplothyrus Lehtinen, 1999 Brazil, French Guiana
    • Diplothyrus schubarti Lehtinen, 1999
    • Diplothyrus lecorrei Klompen, 2010
    • Diplothyrus lehtineni Vázquez & de Araújo & Feres, 2016
  • Neothyrus Lehtinen, 1981 Peru
    • Neothyrus ana Lehtinen, 1981
  • Caribothyrus Kontschán & Mahunka, 2004 Dominican Republic
    • Caribothyrus barbatus Kontschán & Mahunka, 2004
Footnotes

Footnotes

  1. Walter, David Evans; Proctor, Heather C. (1998). "Feeding behaviour and phylogeny: observations on early derivative Acari". Experimental and Applied Acarology. 22 (1): 39–50. doi:10.1023/A:1006033407957.
  2. Dobson, Susan J.; Barker, Stephen C. (1999). "Phylogeny of the Hard Ticks (Ixodidae) Inferred from 18S rRNA Indicates That the GenusAponommaIs Paraphyletic". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 11 (2): 288–295. doi:10.1006/mpev.1998.0565.
References

References

  • Joel Hallan's Biology Catalog: Holothyrida
  • Bruce Halliday: Order Holothyrida
  • Lehtinen, Pekka T. (1995): Revision of the old world Holothyridae (Arachnida : Anactinotrichida : Holothyrina). Invertebrate Taxonomy 9(4): 767-826. doi:10.1071/IT9950767