TY  - JOUR
JF  - Acarologia
T1  - The whirligig mite (Anystis) and its doppelgangers: deciphering cryptic diversity in cosmopolitan vagrant species
VL  - 66
IS  - Suppl
SP  - 101
EP  - 101
PY  - 2026
SN  - 0044-586X
SN  - 2107-7207
PB  - Les Amis d'Acarologia
AU  - Frédéric, Beaulieu
AU  - Wayne, Knee
AU  - Frédéric, Beaulieu
AU  - Wayne, Knee
UR  - https://doi.org/10.24349/3ycw-pjm9
DO  - 10.24349/3ycw-pjm9
DA  - 2026-07-20
ET  - 2026-07-20
KW  - Trombidiformes
KW  - Anystidae
KW  - Predatory mites
KW  - Barcoding
KW  - Species boundaries
AB  - Anystis, the ‘whirligig mites’, is one of the most ubiquitous and conspicuous genera of terrestrial mites. However, species-level identifications are nearly impossible because of vague species boundaries associated with limited taxonomic knowledge and poorly deciphered morphological variability. Based on 180 mites originating from >40 geographic locations worldwide, our molecular datasets (COI, 28S D6–D8) based on 180 mites support the delimitation of several species, which could be distinguished by relatively subtle morphological features. The COI barcode region shows remarkable intraspecific divergence (8.7–9.3% on average and maximums of 13.4– 14.6%), which overlap with interspecific divergences (12.6–21.1%). In contrast, 28S varies little within species (0–0.8%) but widely between species (7.6–14.7%). Our morphological analysis shows that there is substantial intraspecific variations in attributes such as the lengths of legs, and that attributes are strongly correlated with body size proxies (primarily legs’ length) and are therefore of little diagnostic value. Our data do not reconcile well with the previous literature on Anystis species, and linking these adjusted species concepts with available names will be difficult given that type species are lost or in poor condition, even morphologically. Our research indicates that 28S complements what appears as hypervariable intraspecific hypervariable COI data and reflects meaningful morphological variation, which can be used integratively to delineate species in the morphologically conservative genus Anystis.
ER -