NEW ACARINA FROM INDIA.* 



. 





H. E. Ewing. 



INTRODUCTION. 



At present our knowledge of the Acarina is almost 

 entirely confined to European and North American forms, 

 with the possible exception of the family Analgesidae, or 

 "Bird Mites." As the members of this family can be 

 easily collected from the skins of birds in museums, its 

 representatives have been obtained from all parts of the 

 world. 



A comparative study of those few forms which we do 

 have from the tropics with the many now known from the 

 North Temperate Zone appears to indicate, though we 

 would hardly expect it, that, as a rule, it is the tropical 

 forms that are the smaller and less remarkable in appear- 

 anace. In other words, for most free-living families at 

 least, it appears that it is in temperate climates that 

 they reach their greatest development. This point was 

 strongly emphasized a few years ago by Mr. A. D. Michael 

 of England, who then examined and described 1 some very 

 fantastic and bizarre forms collected by Mr. Bostock in 

 New Zealand. Every one of these species Mr. Michael 

 referred to previously created genera, yet they showed 

 a great exaggeration of the characters found in warmer 

 climates. 



A careful study of some fifteen species received from 

 the southern part of India has been made by the writer. 

 Judging from my knowledge of these forms as compared 

 with our North American and the European Acarina, I 

 have been convinced of the correctness of Mr. Michael's 

 view. I find that, with one possible exception, all these 



♦Presented by title to The Academy of Science of St. Louis, Decem- 

 ber 5, 1910. 

 Unrecorded Acari from New Zealand. Journ. Linn. Soc. 30: 134-149. 



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