Blattisocius is a genus of mites in the family Blattisociidae.Oliveira, D.C.; Chandrapatya, A.; De Moraes, G.J. 2015: A new species of Blattisocius (Acari: Mesostigmata: Blattisociidae), with a new characterisation of the genus. Zootaxa, 4040(1): 93-100.
Description Adult females of Blattisocius have a dorsal shield that is undivided and lacks midlateral incisions. The sternal shield either has 3 pairs of setae or has 2 pairs with the 3rd pair st3 on partially separate platelets. Setae st4 are located either on soft cuticle or on the corners of the sternal shield platelets. There are no isolated metasternal plates. The epigynal shield is truncate posteriorly. The ventrianal shield ranges from subtriangular to bullet-shaped, and bears 3-4 pairs of preanal setae and 3 circumanal setae. The adanal setae are inserted anterior to the posterior margin of the anus. The peritrematic shield is slender, being barely wider than the stigma at the level of the stigma. The corniculi are slender and narrowly separated. The fixed digit of the chelicera has a filiform pilus dentilis. The tectum is convex in shape.
Ecology Blattisocius have been found on/in live plants (e.g. roses, citrus trees, apple trees), vegetables, stored foods, animal nests (including bee nests), live insects and insect cultures.
They are generally considered to be predators of microarthropods. The species B. patagiorum is believed to be parasitic on noctuid moths.
Species Blattisocius aegypticus Nasr, Nawar & Afifi, 1988 Blattisocius apis Basha & Yousef, 2001 Blattisocius apisassociae Chinniah & Mohanasundaram, 1995 Blattisocius capsicum Basha & Yousef, 2001 Blattisocius changjiangensis (Ma, 2006) Blattisocius daci (Narayan & Ghai, 1961) Blattisocius dentriticus (Berlese, 1918) Blattisocius dolichus Ma, 2006 Blattisocius edentata (Karg, 1976) Blattisocius everti Britto, Lopes & De Moraes, 2012 Blattisocius incisus Bhattacharyya, 1977 Blattisocius keegani Fox, 1947 Blattisocius mali (Oudemans, 1929) Blattisocius patagiorum Treat, 1966 Blattisocius quadridentatus Haines, 1979 Blattisocius tarsalis (Berlese, 1918) Blattisocius thaicocofloris Oliveira, Chandrapatya & De Moraes, 2015 Blattisocius urticana (Nesbitt, 1954)
Possibly also: Blattisocius othreisae Chinniah & Mohanasundaram, 1995
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