New York AcGricutturaAL Experiment StarIon. 303 
HISTORY OF FAMILY. 
The mites were first discussed in a vague manner by Reaumur! 
in 1737, who apparently observed some specimens of a mite, now 
known as Eriophyes tiliae, in galls upon the leaves of the lime 
tree. Later Turpin? examined the same species and named it Sar- 
coptes gallarum tiliae. In 1834 Duges® mentioned the observa- 
tions of Turpin upon this species and expressed the opinion that 
the mites were larval forms of Dermanyssus, believing that all adult 
Acarina never possess less than four pair of legs. Siebold* in 
1850 considered the mites as larvae, and suggested that they possi- 
bly propagated asexually and that the adult form was yet to be 
found. He provisionally employed the term Eriophyes to designate 
these creatures. During 1851 Dujardin® established the genus 
Phytoptus for two forms of mites upon linden and willow respec- 
tively, which he characterized as possessing only two pair of legs, 
an annulated abdomen and degenerated mouthparts. Dujardin 
detected ova in the abdomen and considered the mites adult forms. 
The true nature of the adult mite was conclusively shown by Lan- 
dois® in 1864, after a careful study of the mite, Eriophyes vitis, an 
important pest of the grape. This group of mites has long been 
known as Phytoptidae which was formed on the genus Phytoptus 
of Dujardin, but lately writers have accepted Eriophyes (Siebold) 
which has one year’s priority. 
SYNOPSES OF GENERA. 
The following synopses, which are based on Nalepa’s descrip- 
tions, give the essential characters of the genera and serve for their 
identification. In point of numbers, Eriophyes is the most import- 
ant-genus, followed in order by Phyllocoptes, Epitrimerus, Oxy- 
pleurites and Tegonotus, which include all of the known species 
recorded in the United States. 
*Memoires sour servir @ hist. des Insectes. Paris, 1737, 111: pp. 423-511. 
-Floriep’s Notizen, Weimar, 47:65. 1836. 
Ann. Sci. Nat. Zool., Paris, 1834, p. 104. 
*Achtundzwangister Jahresber. d. schlesischen Ges. f. vaterl. Cultur, 
Breslau, 1850, Zweite Ber. iiber die Arb. d. entomolog. Section, S, 88-8o. 
5 Ann. Sct. Nat. Zool. Paris, 1851, p. 166. 
*Ztschr. wiss. Zool., 142353-364. 1864. 
