Family: Haplozetidae
Taxonomy: This widely distributed species is more commonly known under the name Rostrozetes foveolatus Sellnick. However, Norton and Kethley (1989) recognized that R. foveolatus is a junior subjective synonym of R. ovulum. This is a very variable species. However, Beck (1965) examined the range of morphological variability in specimens from a variety of habitats in eastern Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Venezuela, Panama, El Salvador, Mexico, Angola, Madagascar, Maldives, and Sumatra, and proposed only one subspecies from montane habitats in Peru. Other morphotypes he considered conspecific and this has been the approach used in identifying specimens collected at La Selva.
Habitat: This is among the most common species in litter samples in old-growth and secondary forest at La Selva. It is also found on moss and fungi from tree trunks. Research by Beck (1965) indicated the wide distribution of this species throughout the tropics and subtropics. However, it is also found in forests of eastern North America (Marshall et al. 1987), and is one of the most common inhabitants of peatlands in eastern North America, occurring as far north as the boreal forest in Canada (Behan-Pelletier and Bissett 1994).
Ecology: Adults and immatures of this species are fungivorous. They are known to survive long periods of inundation (Beck 1972; Franklin et al. 1997).
References:
Behan-Pelletier V. and Bissett B. 1994. Oribatida of Canadian peatlands. Mem. Entomol. Soc. Can., 169: 73-88.
Beck L. 1965. Über Variabilität und Wertigkeit morphologischer Merkmale bei adulten Oribatiden (Arachnida, Acari) am Beispiel der Gattung Rostrozetes Sellnick 1925. Abh. Senck. naturf. Ges., 508: 5-64.
Beck L. 1972. Der Einfluß der jahresperiodischen Überflutung auf den Massenwechsel der Bodenarthropoden im zentralamazonischen Regenwaldgebiet. Pedobiologia, 12: 133-148.
Franklin E. Adis J. and Woas St. 1997. The oribatid mites. Pp. 331-349 in Junk (Ed.) The Central Amazon Floodplain. Ecological Studies 126, Springer-Verlag.
Marshall VG, Reeves RM, Norton RA 1987. Catalogue of the Oribatida (Acari) of Continental United States and Canada. Mem. Ent. Soc. Can., 139: 418 pp.
Norton RA, and Kethley JB 1989. Berlese's North American oribatid mites: historical notes, recombinations, synonymies and type designations. Redia, 62: 421-499.