The Holothyrida are a small order of mites in the superorder Parasitiformes. No fossils are known. With body lengths of more than 2 mm they are relatively large mites, with a heavily sclerotized body. It is divided into three families, Allothyridae, Holothyridae, and Neothyridae. In a 1998 experimental study, members of the family Allothyridae were found to ignore living animals but readily fed on the body fluids of dead arthropods, making them scavengers. The order has a distribution largely confined to former Gondwanan landmasses. They are the sister group to Ixodida (ticks).

Systematics

Allothyridae

Allothyridae van der Hammen, 1972 — Australia, New Zealand

Holothyridae

Holothyridae Thorell, 1882 Sri Lanka, Indian Ocean islands, New Guinea, New Caledonia

Neothyridae

Neothyridae Lehtinen, 1981 Northern South America and the Caribbean

Footnotes