276 



ARACHNOIDEA, 



c*SE Genus Glyciphagus, Hering, Kratz-Milben in Nov. Act. Cuv. 



(1838), XVIII. a. 575. 

 A genus, established by Hering, for a mite allied to Tyroglyphus 

 which he found feeding on the sugar of dried fruits, such as figs, 

 prunes, cherries, &c. It derives its name from yXvKo?, sweet, and 

 ^ayw, I eat. Without going into minute details, its chief 

 characters are a pointed snout (chelate mandibles), a dorsal depres- 



Mouth of Glyciphagus spinipes. 



Hair of Glyciphagus. 



Claw of Glyciphagus spinipes. 



sion instead of a distinct transverse line, dividing the body 

 between thorax and abdomen, a number, not all, of the hairs on 

 the back long and feathered, particularly behind, and the body 

 terminated by a short button or anal projection at least in the 

 female, a character which occurs in no other type of mites. 

 The legs are five-jointed, and the tarsi terminate in a sucker 

 and very fine almost undecipherable claw, so that they generally 

 look as if provided with simple suckers like the Sarcoptidse. 

 The skin is neither striate, as in the Sarcoptid^, nor. smooth 

 and shining as in the Tyroglyphi, but has a sort of granular texture 

 that makes it look velvety. The males are greatly rarer than 

 the females. This is a very easy genus to diagnose. It may 

 seem a very trifling matter whether the hairs of an almost invisible 



