| INTRODUCTION In this paper we describe for the first time the life-cycle of Acotyledon paradoxα Oudemans, 1903. This species was known, so far, only from the hypopial stage and a protonymph. The discovery of the adults allows us to precise the systematic position of the genus Acotyledon and to throw light on this difficult group of Acaridae. All our material was found by the junior author in a nest of a screech owl, Otus asio, in Syracuse, New York, U.S.A. It includes numerous hypopi, protonymphs, tritonymphs and adults of both sexes. One of our protonymphs contained a completely developed hypopus identical with the other free hypopi. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE Oudemans (1903) erected the genus Acotyledon for a new species, A. paradoxa, represented only by... |
