Trombidiformes 243 



5. Phanolophus Andre, 1927 



Type. Phanolophus nasica Andre, 1927 



6. Sclerosmaris Grandjean, 1947 



Type. Sclerosmaris philopempta Grandjean, 1947 



7. Sphaerotarsiis Womersley, 1936 



Type, Sphaerotarsiis allmani Womersley, 1936 



Southcott 1946 revised the family and divided it into four subfami- 

 lies — the Smaridiinae, Fessoniinae, Hirstiosominae, and Phanoloph- 

 inae. This system is not followed here. 



Discussion: This is a little known group of mites in which the larval 

 forms are parasitic on insects and the adult forms are predaceous. 

 Very few species are known, the best known fauna being that of Aus- 

 tralia and Europe. The family is little known in North America, Ev/ing 

 having described Hirstiosoma longilinealis (Ewing) from the Middle 

 West, and Say another species from the East Coast — Smarts sericeum 

 Say. 



Womersley and Southcott 1941 have studied the life history of a 

 few of these mites and have been able to rear nymphs of Smarts prom- 

 inens (Banks), an Australian species, from larvae found attached to 

 psocids. They state, "when fully gorged the mites left their hosts and 

 wandered freely about the tube for several days before becoming dor- 

 mant. After several more days: the skin splits transversely, revealing 

 the pupa. Three to four weeks later the nymph emerges from a rent 

 towards the posterior end of the pupa. Whether a second resting stage 

 and nymph occurs has not been ascertained, but seems to be unlikely." 

 The presence of only one nymphal stage agrees with Grandjean's 

 statement that the protonymph stage is lacking. Womersley and South- 

 cott have also been able to correlate nymphs of Hirstiosoma and 

 Sphaerotarsus with adults on morphological grounds, as Grandjean 

 has been able to do with the larvae and adults found associated to- 

 gether. 



References: 



Grandjean, F. 1947- Etude sur les Smaridiidae et quelques autres Ery- 



throides (Acariens). Arch, de Zool. Expt. et Gen. 85(1) : 1-126. 

 Southcott, R. V. 1946. On the family Smaridiidae (Acarina). Proc. Linn. 



Soc. New South Wales 70(3-4) : 173-178. 

 Womersley, H., and R. V. Southcott. 1941. Notes on the Smaridiidae 



(Acarina) of Australia and New Zealand. Trans. Roy. Soc. South 



Austral. 65(l):61-78. 



