7. NOTHROIDEA

Nothroidea Grandjean, 1954, p. 431.

The superfamily Nothroidea was created by Grandjean (1954); according to him it consists of the families Hermanniidae, Nothridae, Camisiidae, Nanhermanniidae, Trhypochthoniidae, and Malaconothridae .

Knülle (1957, p. 154) united Malaconothridae, Trhypochthoniidae, and a new family Trhypochthoniellidae in a new superfamily Trhypochthonoidea . The distinguishing characters mentioned by him are, however, not convincing, mainly because they do not fit in with the genera Allonothrus Van der Hammen and Archegozetes Grandjean; the same applies to the family Trhypochthoniellidae .

I have followed Grandjean's conception, but I arranged the families in a different way; the Hermanniidae are placed at the end of the group, because they have already some resemblance to the higher Oribatei .

KEY TO THE FAMILIES OF NOTHROIDEA

1. Genital and anal openings are situated in a large ventral plate............... Hermanniidae

- No special ventral plate................2

2. Diagastric (i.e. the scleritization of the notogaster continues between anal and genital openings)................ Nanhermanniidae

- Not diagastric..................3

3. The cerotegument belongs to a special type: it is birefringent and porose, and distinctly consists of shields................. Malaconothridae

- Cerotegument of a different type.............4

4. Neotrichy of the epimeres. No aggenital hairs. Only part of the genital hairs have a (less distinct) marginal Position (no neotrichy of the genital plates). Adults holotrichous .................. Nothridae

- No neotrichy of the epimeres. The genital hairs have a distinct marginal position (often neotrichy). As a rule the adults are unideficient.............5

5. Two pairs of aggenital hairs. The last Joint of the palp has 8 hairs (a included), the ventral pair is lacking. Notogaster flattened or slightly concave...................... Camisiidae

- No aggenital hairs. The last Joint of the palp has 10 hairs (" included). Notogaster slightly convex.................. Trhypochthoniidae