Balaustium bipilum

Taxobox
name = "Balaustium bipilum"
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Arthropoda
subphylum = Chelicerata
classis = Arachnida
subclassis = Acari
superordo = Acariformes

ordo = Prostigmata
subordo = Anystina
unranked_familia = Parasitengona
superfamilia = Erythraeoidea
familia = Erythraeidae
genus = "Balaustium"
species = "B. bipilum"
binomial = "Balaustium bipilum"
binomial_authority = Meyer & Ryke, 1959

"Balaustium bipilum" is a species of mite belonging to the family Erythraeidae. This long-oval shaped, sparsely hairy orange mite is less than 1 mm in length with one pair of eyes set well back on the body. It can be distinguished from similar species by the crista (a sclerotized sensory organ at the highest point of the abdomen) projecting forward beyond the margin of the body and the clear suture dividing the upper abdomen. This species is endemic to South Africa.

References

*"Nine new species of the superfamily Erythraeoidea (Acarina: Trombidiformes) associated with plants in South Africa", Magdalena K.P. Meyer & P.A.J. Ryke, Acarologia I