This Checklist brings together for the first time the names of all 2620 described species of mites that are known to occur in Australia. It gives the correct nomenclature for each species, and places every species in the appropriate genus and family, using the latest available classification. The Checklist also provides a bibliography of information on biogeography, economic importance and, in the case of pests, biology and control.
This work is a baseline from which more detailed and specific research projects will draw their fundamental data.
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This Checklist provides a list of the names of all 2620 described species of mites that are known to occur ill Australia. All species are placed in the most appropriate genus and family, as far as they can be determined from the literature. In cases in which it is not clear where a species should be placed, it is listed in the genus in which it was placed in the most recently published taxonomic work — there are no species incertae sedis.
The bibliographic reference is given for the original description of every species, genus and family of Australian mites. For every species, bibliographic references are also given for subsequent literature on its taxonomy, nomenclature, and systematics in the broad sense, wherever they are available. For important pest species, references are also provided to papers on their economic importance and other aspects of their biology. The resulting bibliography includes over 2500 books and papers, almost all of which have been examined directly.
The list is intended to provide a taxonomic placement for every name that has ever been applied to an Australian species of mite, including misidentifications, synonyms, and species incorrectly recorded from Australia.
The Checklist includes only names that have been used in the published literature; no new information has been obtained from the examination of specimens. It does not make any new taxonomic decisions or re-arrangements, but instead brings together a summary of published information on Australian mites as at 31/12/1997. Identifications and synonymies are taken directly from publications, and are assumed to be correct unless there is published evidence to the contrary. A complete index of all these names is provided, including mis-spellings and misidentifications.
In a supplementary section, references are given to the literature on mites that have been only partly identified, either to the genus or family level. A further supplement includes explanatory notes on difficult taxonomic or nomenclatural problems that require clarification, and identifies situations in which further research is needed to resolve taxonomic problems.
Readers are asked to report errors and omissions to the author, so the electronic database on which the Checklist was based can be corrected and kept up-to-date.
