CANESTRINIIDAE Berlese, 1884

This is a large family, but still poorly known, and contains 370 species in 101 genera. To date, 68 species of Canestriniidae have been found on Passalidae, of which 38 were found on 22 identified species of Passalidae belonging to 12 genera, while 30 species of Canestriniidae were collected from unidentified species of Passalidae (Lombardini 1944; Samšiňák 1963, 1968; Vomero 1972; Nesbitt 1976; Summers and Schuster 1981a, 1981b, 1982; Haitlinger 1990, 2022; Corpuz-Raros 2001; Beron 2021). Most species of Canestriniidae collected from Passalidae belong to the genera Melisia Lombardini, 1944 (22 species), Apalotacarus Summers and Schuster, 1981 (17) and Lidiophela Haitlinger, 1990 (6). Most species of canestriniids were collected from Aceraius grandis (Burmeister, 1847) (5), Pleurarius brachyphyllus Stoliczka, 1873 (5), Protomocoelus australis (Boisduval, 1835) (4) and A. laevicollis (Illiger, 1800) (3). The least host specificity is shown by Apalotacarus luoris, which was found on four host species. However, results may vary significantly because as many as 50% of the species were collected from unidentified passalids (Tables 2–7). Canestriniids show a close relationship with

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