PHTHIRACARIDAE Perty, 1841

Perty (1841) created the Phthiracarea, a group consisting of one genus ("Sippe") with one species (Phthiracarus contractilis). Oudemans (1896, pp. 53, 62) rediscovered the name and used it instead of Hoplophoridae (Hoplophorinae Berlese, 1885d; Hoplophoridae Berlese, 1896b).

Although Oudemans (1896) used Phthiracarus in the sense of Tritia Berlese (followed by Michael, 1898), he later (Oudemans, 1915, p. 212) discovered the correct conception of the genus. I remark that Berlese apparently followed Oudemans in his varying use of Phthiracarus.

Michael (1898) emended the name Phthiracarea into Phthiracarinae, whilst Oudemans later wrote Phthiracaridae. At that time the conception of the family corresponded with our superfamily Phthiracaroidea. Jacot (1930, p. 214) created two tribes, Phthiracarini and Euphthiracarini, of which the first-mentioned (in Jacot's restricted sense) is now considered a separate family Phthiracaridae.

Berlese's Phthiracarid species are classified here with five genera: Tropacarus, Steganacarus, Hoplophorella, Hoplophthiracarus, and Phthiracarus.