Macrocheles caelatus Berlese

Halliday, R. B., 2005, Predatory mites from crops and pastures in South Africa: potential natural enemies of redlegged earth mite Halotydeus destructor (Acari: Penthaleidae), Zootaxa 1079, pp. 11-64 : 36

Macrocheles caelatus Berlese

Macrocheles (Coprholaspis) caelatus Berlese, 1918: 157 . Macrocheles caelatus: Walter & Krantz, 1986: 283 .

Specimens examined: Site 94­13, 12 females; Site 94­14, 2 females.

Macrocheles caelatus was described from East Africa ( Berlese, 1918) and subsequently collected from Zaire and Rwanda ( Walter & Krantz, 1986). The records of this species from New Zealand, Fiji and Malaysia ( Ramsay, 1970; Emberson, 1973) represent misidentification of M. peniculatus Berlese. M. caelatus is a member of the Macrocheles glaber species group, which prey on nematodes and insect eggs and larvae wherever organic matter is decomposing. The Australian fauna includes at least 6 species in this group, not including M. caelatus ( Halliday, 2000b) .