Family: Mycobatidae
Taxonomy: This is one of the few species in this family found at La Selva. The description of the genus and species is in Behan-Pelletier (1998).
Habitat: This is the most commonly found ceratozetoid mite in lowland tropical forest at La Selva. It is mainly an inhabitant of soil and litter in primary forest, and adults were collected from this habitat in all months of the year, other than July and December. It was collected also from soils of secondary forest, from soil around the edge of the experimental swamp, and from soil in the successional plot.
Ecology: This species feeds on fungi and some detritus. Although adults have been found at almost all times of the year no immatures have been found. This suggests either (a) immatures live in a slightly different microhabitat than the adult, e.g., either deeper in soil than the average sample depth (0-5cm), or on low vegetation; (b) the classification of the genus is incorrect and thus immatures have been overlooked. Undoubtedly, this is one of the more important microarthropod species involved in decomposition and nutrient cycling in tropical soils (Heneghan et al. 1998).
References:
Behan-Pelletier VM 1998. Ceratozetoidea (Acari: Oribatida) of lowland tropical rainforest, La Selva, Costa Rica. Acarologia 39: 349-381.
Heneghan, LJ, Coleman, DC, Zou, X, Crossley Jr., DA and Haines, BL 1998. Soil microarthropod community structure and litter decomposition dynamics: A study of temperate and tropical sites. Applied Soil Ecology 9:33-38.