NEW NORTH AMERICAN ACARINA. ''ew vo^^ 



H. E. EWING. ^^kOElSi. 



INTRODUCTION. 



In this country little has been done upon the general 

 study of Acarina. Most of the work which has been done 

 is upon special families or groups, or upon those species 

 which have an especial economic importance. Mr. Nathan 

 Banks has made a somewhat general study of our mites 

 and has described many species from different parts of the 

 country. In his ''Treatise on the Acarina, or Mites," Proc. 

 U. S. Nat. Mus. 28 : 1-114, he reviews the work done on 

 the Acarina in our country and gives excellent keys to our 

 genera. 



Up to the present time about 500 species of the order 

 Acarina have been recorded from America, most of which 

 are referable to European genera. It may be that a study 

 of the subtropical or arctic mites will reveal several new 

 genera peculiar to our continent; of the former, especially, 

 scarcely anything is known up to the present. 



The writer is indebted to the following persons for the 

 collection of many of the specimens used in the following 

 descriptions: Mr. C. R. Crosby, assistant entomologist, New 

 York State College of Agriculture; Mr. J. D. Hood of the 

 University of Illinois; Mr. C. A. Hart, systematic entomol- 

 ogist of the Illinois State Laboratory of Natural History; 

 Mr. E. 0. G. Kelly, ex-assistant to the State Entomolo- 

 gist of Illinois; and L. M. Smith, assistant to the State 

 Entomologist. 



Dr. J. W. Folsom has aided the writer in several ways 

 and Dr. S. A. Forbes has offered him all the privileges of 

 the Illinois State Laboratory of Natural History. In this 

 laboratory type specimens have been deposited. 



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