Labidostomatidae, Oudemans, 1904

Bertrand, M., Bagheri, M., Akbari, A., Yazdanian, M., Irani-Nejad, K. H., Mohajer, S. S. & Saboori, A., 2012, A New Iranian Species Of The Subgenus Labidostoma (Prostigmata: Labidostomatidae), With New Biogeographic Data On The Integrum Species Group, Acarologia 52 (3), pp. 233-245 : 234

The Labidostomatidae family, a model of primitive Prostigmata

The three European genera of Labidostomatoidea ( Trombidiformes , supercohort Labidostomatides sensu Krantz and Walter, 2009) have a large distribution (Europe, North America and Asia): the cosmopolitan Labidostoma Kramer, 1879 (syn. Nicoletiella ), or the Holarctic genera Eunicolina Berlese, 1911 (syn. Grandjeanellina ) and Akrostomma Robaux, 1977 ( Table 1 ).

Because Labidostomatidae Oudemans 1904 (i) have conserved a primitive morphology, (ii) are distributed all over the continents, and (iii) the distinctive variations in their morphology are easily ob- servable, labidostomatid mites are currently considered forming (i) a basal branch among the Prostigmata , (ii) a model for biogeographic studies, (iii) a likely example of evolutive radiations ( Grandjean, 1941; Bertrand, 1990a).

Labidostomatidae is the unique family that belongs to Labidostomatina, one of four infraorders forming the suborder Prostigmata (classification according to Zhang et al., 2011). Labidostomatidae are one of the most primitive groups of Actinotrichid mites. An unusual and homogeneous pattern, with sclerotized cuticle forming ventral and dorsal shields characterized the species; this sclerotization may have played a role in the conservation of characters kept also by the most primitive groups of trombidiform mites (Sphaerolichina, Eupodina ).