The Holothyrida are a small order of mites in the superorder Parasitiformes. No fossils are known. With body lengths of more than 2 mm (3⁄32 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, 1972 — Australia, New Zealand
Lehtinen, Pekka T. (1995): Revision of the old world Holothyridae (Arachnida : Anactinotrichida : Holothyrina). Invertebrate Taxonomy9(4): 767-826. doi:10.1071/IT9950767
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