Klinckowstroemiidae Camin & Gorirossi

Villegas-Guzman, Gabriel A., Pérez, Tila M. & Reyes-Castillo, Pedro, 2009, New species of the genus Klinckowstroemia Baker & Wharton from Mexico (Acari: Mesostigmata: Trigynaspida: Klinckowstroemiidae), Zootaxa 2248, pp. 1-46 : 4

Klinckowstroemiidae Camin & Gorirossi

Klinckowstroemiidae Camin & Gorirossi, 1955: 51 .

Along with their sister-group, the Fedrizziidae , the Klinckowstroemiidae are placed in the Fedrizzioidea ( Camin & Gorirossi 1955). Kethley (1977) included the Paramegistidae and Promegistidae in this superfamily, but they were later moved to the Paramegistoidea by Kim (2004) and the original concept of the Fedrizzioidea retained. The Fedrizziidae and Klinckowstroemiidae are very similar and can only be distinguished by the form of the genital shields ( Seeman 2007). The distribution is different for each family, since Fedrizziidae are found in Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Papua New Guinea and Philippines ( Seeman 2007), while Klinckowstroemiidae haves been recorded only in the American Continent. Both families have the same hosts, passalid beetles.

Diagnosis (modified from Rosario & Hunter 1987)

Dorsal shield convex, reticulate, bearing minute setae with no apparent pattern. Palpal trochanter with seta av 1 large, pectinate; seta av 2 pilose. Male jugular shields usually fused, forming tetartosternum, bearing sternal seta st 1 and pore stp 1; female always with tetartosternum. Sternal shield bearing st 2, st 3, st 4 and stp 2. Anal, ventral and metapodal-peritremal-exopodal shields contiguous or fused. Sternogynial, latigynial and mesogynial shields well developed, each with a vaginal apodeme on the internal surface; latigynial shields with setae, mesogynial and sternogynial shields usually without setae. Coxae marginal line present. Femora II–IV with ventral hyaline lobe bearing seta pv 1. Male genital opening oval, wider than long and between coxae II–III.