Adult growth in Opilioacaridae with 1904 (Acari: Parasitiformes: Opilioacarida)

Abstract

Mites in the order Opilioacarida are known to undergo postimaginal molting. The process has been associated with the ability to regain lost appendages, but may also result in growth and increases in numbers of specific setae. These processes were observed in four individuals, with two of these showing increases in setal lengths ranging from 8.1 to 16.6%. Qualitative growth, in the form of an increase from 5 to 6 in the number of d-type setae on the left palp, was observed in a single individual.