Balaustium cristatum

Taxobox
name = "Balaustium cristatum"
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. cristatum"
binomial = "Balaustium cristatum"
binomial_authority = Meyer & Ryke, 1959

"Balaustium cristatum" is a species of mite belonging to the family Erythraeidae. This oval mite is only known from immature specimens: the eight-legged nymph is around 0.75 mm in length and moderately hairy with two pairs of eyes and all legs shorter than the body. The six-legged larva is only around 0.5 mm in length and sparsely hairy with one pair of eyes and the third pair of legs longer than the body.

It is associated with various plants in the vicinity of Malelane, 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