Stigmaeidae
Taxonomic placing: Acari, Prostigmata, Raphignathoidea.
Morphology: Body oval or elongated, often red or green, dorsum usally with several plates, gnathosoma placed anterior to prodorsum, eyes present or absent, tarsi usually with tenent hairs.
A cosmopolitan family about 600 species. They live on plants and in the soil. Many feed on small pest mites and they are believed to play a role in the biological control of pests, especially Eriophyidae. Agistemus exsertus and Zetzellia mali are members of this family.
References
Carrillo, D., de Moraes, G.J. and Peña, J.E. 2015. (eds). Chapter 7, Stigmaeidae. In: Prospects for Biological Control of Plant Feeding Mites and Other Harmful Organisms, pp. 185-206. Springer, International Publishing, Switzerland.
Dőnel, G. and Doĝan,S. 2011.The stigmaeid mites (Acari: Stigmaeidae) of Kelkit Valley (Turkey). Zootaxa 2942: 1-56.
Fan, Q.-H., Flechtmann, C.H.W. and de Moraes, G.J. 2016. Annotated catalogue of Stigmaeidae (Acari: Prostigmata), with a pictorial key to genera. Zootaxa 4176: 001–199.
Thistlewood, H.M.A., Clements, D.R. and Harmsen, R. 1996. Chapter 2.2 Stigmaeidae. In: Lindquist, E.E., Sabelis, M.W. and Bruin, J. (Eds.) Eriophyoid Mites, Their Biology, Natural Enemies and Control. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp. $57-470.
Rasmy, A.H., Osman, M.A. and Abou-Elella G.M. 2015. Potential use of stigmaeid mites for biological control of orchard pests. Egyptian Journal of biological Control 25: 267-270.
Yue, B. and Childers, C.C. 1994. Effect of temperature on life table parameters of Agistemus exsertus and its attack rate on Panonychus citri eggs. International Journal of Acarology 22: 104-113.