Fessonia brevicristata

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

ordo = Prostigmata
subordo = Anystina
unranked_familia = Parasitengona
superfamilia = Erythraeoidea
familia = Smaridiidae
genus = "Fessonia"
species = "F. brevicristata"
binomial = "Fessonia brevicristata"
binomial_authority = Meyer & Ryke, 1959

"Fessonia brevicristata" is a species of mite belonging to the family Smaridiidae. This is a densely hairy mite, shaped as a long oval, pointed in front. It reaches around 1 mm in length. There are two pairs of eyes, those placed further forward much larger than those behind. Both the first and fourth pairs of legs are longer than the body. It can be distinguished from its congeners by the structure of the crista (a sclerotized sensory area located at the highest point of the body). In this species the crista is truncated so that the sensory setae lying furthest back along the body do not lie on the crista.

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