Abstract
A new genus and species, Lanceacheyla whartoni (Acariformes: Prostigmata: Cheyletidae) is described for the female, male, and teleonymph. All mites were collected from leaves of'Hamlin' orange trees in Florida, U.SA. Affinities of the new genus withinCheyletidae are discussed. The family Cheyletidae Leach (Acariformes: Prostigmata) is quite diverse, both taxonomically and ecologically (including free living predators, parasites of vertebrates, and obligate associates of invertebrates). Volgin (1969,1987) recognized 10 tribes and 54 genera, Summers and Price (1970) listed 50 genera and close to 190 species, and Gerson et al. (1999) listed a total of 76 genera and more than 400 species. Bochkov and Fain (2001) presented the first phylogenetic analysis of intrafamilial relationships, which largely confirmed Volgin's classification. These authors recognized 72 valid genera for the family. Currently, the Cheyletidae includes about 370 species belonging to 73 genera (Bochkov 2004).
NSTL