Mictognathinae Otto, 1999

Bartsch, Ilse, 2015, The genital area of Halacaridae (Acari), life stages and development of morphological characters and implication on the classification, Zootaxa 3919 (2), pp. 201-259 : 246

Mictognathinae Otto, 1999

Adults (according to Otto 1999c: p. 839). 'Dorsal plates overlapping; ventral plates closely abutting with no membranous cuticle between them or completely fused; anterior epimeral plate dorsally fused. Palps attached laterally, palp segment P-4 at least as long as P-2 and P-3 combined, with no more than one seta in proximal half; posterior pair of maxillary setae inserted on base of rostrum. Telofemora, genua and tibiae with elaborate articular lamellae. Tibiae of all legs with pair of ventral bipectinate setae. Claw fossae on all tarsi inconspicuous.'

Remarks. The subfamily Mictognathinae was erected by Otto (1999c) to accommodate the two genera Mictognathus and Corallihalacarus . The characters presented in the diagnosis are correlated with the life-style. The four species known live in coarse sediment. The 'overlapping' of the dorsal plates is assumedly due to compression of a three-dimensional individual. Large, contiguous or fused dorsal and ventral plates, a fusion of the anterior epimeral and anterior dorsal plate, elaborate articular lamellae on the telofemora, genua and tibiae, are character states found in psammophilous species of the Copidognathinae and 'Halacarinae'. Moreover, the size of the dorsal plates and the length relation of the palpal segments are highly variable. A single seta on P-4 is found both within the Copidognathinae and 'Halacarinae', and the majority of halacarids have laterally attached palps.

The subfamily Mictognathinae may be justified but a more solid diagnosis is needed.

The solenidion on tarsus II is in a dorsomedial position, tarsus III bears three dorsal setae and the nymphal stage, with its two pairs of gac, a single (?) pair of pgs (cf. presentation of the genus Mictognathus ). In these characters the two genera Mictognathus and Corallihalacarus conform with the Halixodinae.