| Holothyrida | |
|---|---|
| |
| Sternothyrus braueri, a member of Holothyridae | |
| |
| Underside of male (left) and female (right) of Diplothyrus lecorrei (Neothyridae) | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| 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 (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]
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.