The classification system was established by Carl von Linnaeus in 1758 and it was build on the concept of a species."a species is a population of animals which interbreed, producing offspring and are reproductively isolated". Each species has a name based on a binomial system. The scientific name consists of two components: the generic and specific names. The generic name (= genus, plural genera) always begins with an upper case letter while the specific name starts with a lower case letter. The specific name, once published, is inviolable but the genus to which the species is referred may change with increased knowledge of the group. The full name of a species includes the author and the year in which the description was first published. e.g. Mealia pteronyssina Trouessart, in Berlese, 1897. When, at a later date, a species is placed in a different genus from that to which it was referred by the author, then the author's name is placed in parentheses, e.g. for house dust mite this is Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus (Trouessart, 1897). When there are two or more names for the same species (=synonyms) the earliest description has priority. In a large genus it is convenient to establish subgenera and, in this case, is then shown in parentheses after the generic name, e.g. Argas (Argas) reflexus (Fabricius,1794).
Genera of similar characteristic are combined into tribes (ending: -ini), tribes into subfamilies (ending -inae) and so on increasingly large aggregations designated families (ending: -idae), superfamilies (ending: -oidea) and order. Similar orders form a class and similar classes a phylum. The phyla are combined into the kingdom, e.g. Animalia.
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Kingdom Animalia
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Phylum Arthropoda Metameric animals with an exoskeleton and jointed appendages. |
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Subphylum Chelicerata Arthropods without antennae or mandibles. Mouth parts consist of pedipalps and chelicerae. |
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Class Arachnida Chelicerates that lack gill books. |
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Subclass Acari Arachnids with the mouth parts more or less distinctly set off from the rest of the body on a false head, named capitulum or gnathosoma. Posterior segmentation is greatly reduced or absent. Larval stages normally with three pairs of legs; nymphal and adult have four pairs of legs. Usually minute except for ticks and some other mites.
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Superorder Anactinotrichida The setae present no birifrangent axis of actinopilin. |
Superorder Actinotrichida The setae present an actinopilinous axis. |
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c.3- Mesostigmata
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c.1- Astigmata |
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c.4- Metastigmata or Ixodida |
c.2- Prostigmata |
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Holothyrida |
Oribatida |
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Notostigmata |
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