Written by Nixon A. Wilson


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Alternate titles: Acari; Acarida; Acarina
Written by Nixon A. Wilson


The free-living acarids include species from all of the orders and suborders except Ixodida (ticks). The beetle mites (Oribatida) are largely fungal feeders that are extremely numerous in the surface layers of soil. It has been estimated that as many as six million members of one species can occur in one acre of pasture soil.

Some families of free-living mites have specialized styletlike feeding organs (chelicerae), which can pierce plant cells and are used to suck out their contents. Feeding by members of the family Eriophyidae (Prostigmata), for example, causes the formation of galls, dwarfing of shoots, and malformation of fruits and leaves (witches’-broom). The family Tetranychidae (Prostigmata) contains the spider mites, which are foliage feeders. Several species capable of producing silk can spin a light web over plant leaves.

The families Acaridae and Glycyphagidae (Astigmata), pests of stored grain and cereal products, have blunt, toothed chelicerae that enable them to scrape and gouge their food material. Some species of these two families frequently increase to tremendous numbers in foodstuffs, causing “grocers’ itch” or “copra itch” in humans. There are many free-living predatory mites that live in soil, humus, other organic matter, or water, and prey on small arthropods, their eggs, and other small invertebrates.

Many free-living mites utilize insects or other arthropods to disperse themselves, a nonparasitic association known as phoresy. Adults of the genus Dinogamasus (Laelapidae), for example, live in a special mite pouch on an abdominal segment of certain carpenter bees.

Parasitic species are known in all acarid groups except Opilioacariformes, Holothyrina, and Oribatida. The majority are external parasites, including those most important to humans and domesticated animals. A few species are internal parasites of animals. One ecological group contains families found only on the skin surface or feathers of the host. Psoroptidae (Astigmata), or scab mites, for example, attack the skin surface of mammals and feed on skin scales. Their continuous abrasion of the skin causes a lesion over which a protective scab eventually forms. A second ecological group contains several families of mites that burrow into skin, hair follicles, or quills of the host and feed on fatty secretions, lymph material, or, occasionally, blood. The families Sarcoptidae (Astigmata) and Psorergatidae (Prostigmata), for example, contain species that burrow just beneath the skin of a mammalian host, causing mange or itch. A third ecological group contains species that pierce the skin and suck up tissue fluid or blood without actually invading the tissues. These species may spend either short or long intervals on the host.

The larvae of Trombiculidae (Prostigmata), the chiggers, parasitize many vertebrates and a few invertebrates and feed on host tissues (chigger nymphs and adults, however, are free-living and predatory). Species of Dermanyssidae, Macronyssidae, and many Laelapidae (Mesostigmata) feed on blood or tissue secretions of mammals, birds, and reptiles. Some species, which spend much of their time off the host and in the nest, frequently are referred to as nest parasites, or nidicolous species. The protonymph of one species of Macronyssidae, found in the mouth of a long-nosed bat, causes destruction of tissues; and a species of Spinturnicidae (Mesostigmata) is found in the anal opening of certain species of cave-dwelling bats. Most members of the tick families Argasidae and Ixodidae (Ixodida) are obligate blood-sucking parasites of vertebrates, while most Argasidae nymphs and adults feed on the host for only a few minutes. Ixodidae in most stages in the life cycle remain attached to the host for several days.

A few families of mites are found in additional parasitic associations with vertebrates. Rhinonyssidae, Entonyssidae, and Halarchnidae (Mesostigmata), for example, are respiratory parasites of birds, snakes, and mammals, respectively. Several families of mites have established a parasitic relationship with invertebrates. Larvae of Trombidiidae and Erythraeidae (Prostigmata) and other families, for example, are parasitic on insects but are free living in later stages. In contrast, in the aquatic family Unionicolidae (Prostigmata), nymphs and adults parasitize mollusks and sponges, and larvae are free-living.

Form and function

External features

The subclass Acari is generally distinguished by the lack of body segmentation, although it is secondarily developed in a few families. This is a characteristic shared only with the spiders among the arachnids. An anterior region called the gnathosoma contains the mouth, specialized feeding appendages (chelicerae), and segmented structures called palps, or pedipalps. The mouth or buccal cavity joins the pharynx internally, and paired salivary glands may discharge into the mouth or in front of its opening. The chelicerae are basically three-segmented pincerlike appendages; however, as a result of the diverse feeding habits of some mites, chelicerae sometimes are modified as piercing organs (stylets). The pedipalps, which may be simple sensory structures or predatory organs modified for grasping or piercing, usually have five free segments: trochanter, femur, genu, tibia, tarsus, and frequently there also is a clawlike apotele (a modified sixth distal segment of the appendage).

Behind the gnathosoma is a large region (idiosoma) that bears the legs, the genital and anal openings, and an assortment of tactile and sensory structures. Respiratory pores (stigmata) and sclerotized shields of various shapes and sizes usually are present. The functions of the idiosoma parallel those of the abdomen, thorax, and portions of the head of insects. Although nymphs and adults commonly have four pairs of legs, some Prostigmata (Eriophyidae, Podapolipidae, Tenuipalpidae) and Astigmata (Evansacaridae, Teinocoptidae) have one to three pairs. Legs have the same basic segmentation as pedipalps plus a basal coxa. However, fusion or division of segments frequently occurs. The tarsus may be terminated either by several sensory hairs (setae) or by a clawlike or suckerlike apotele. The legs, which frequently bear ridges and spurs, always have tactile and sensory setae that follow a fixed pattern in position and number. These leg setae are used in establishing systematic relationships. The first pair of legs usually functions in locomotion but sometimes is modified as a sensory or predatory structure.

The genital opening, usually located on the underside between the legs, frequently is protected by one or more shields or flaps and has two or three pairs of disks. In some Prostigmata (Cloacaridae, Demodicidae, Myobiidae, Ophioptidae, Podapolipidae), however, the male genitalia (aedeagus) is located on the dorsal side. The anal opening, also generally on the underside, is surrounded by a shield in the Mesostigmata and is always closed by a pair of valves. In some Prostigmata (Penthaleidae) and Astigmata (Chirorhynchobiidae, Knemidocoptidae) the anal opening is located on the dorsal side. As in all arthropods, the cuticle of acarids is secreted by an outer cell layer called the epidermis. The cuticle of many acarids absorbs water from the air, enabling them to avoid desiccation.

There are many different types of sensory receptors, most of which are setal. The setae, of many shapes and sizes, may be hollow chemoreceptors or solid, tactile structures. Other specialized setae, known as trichobothria, pseudostigmatic organs, eupathidia, or famuli, occur only in the Acariformes. A sensory pit called Haller’s organ contains sensory setae and is found on the tarsal segment of the first pair of legs of all ticks (Ixodida). One to three pairs of eyes are present on the anterior of the idiosoma in Opilioacariformes, a few Astigmata, and many Ixodida and Prostigmata. A single median eye also may be present in some Prostigmata.

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