Poecilochirus is a genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of mite

Mite

Mites, along with ticks, are small arthropods belonging to the subclass Acari and the class Arachnida. The scientific discipline devoted to the study of ticks and mites is called acarology.-Diversity and systematics:...

s in the family Parasitidae

Parasitidae

Parasitidae is a family of predatory mites in the order Mesostigmata that has worldwide distribution. They are the only family in the superfamily Parasitoidea. Relatively large for mites, their color is often yellowish to dark brown. The family as a whole preys on a wide variety of microarthropods...

. They feed on fly

Fly

True flies are insects of the order Diptera . They possess a pair of wings on the mesothorax and a pair of halteres, derived from the hind wings, on the metathorax...

 eggs

Egg (biology)

An egg is an organic vessel in which an embryo first begins to develop. In most birds, reptiles, insects, molluscs, fish, and monotremes, an egg is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum, which is expelled from the body and permitted to develop outside the body until the developing...

 and larva. At least 14 species of the genus are carried from one food source to another by beetle

Beetle

Coleoptera is an order of insects commonly called beetles. The word "coleoptera" is from the Greek , koleos, "sheath"; and , pteron, "wing", thus "sheathed wing". Coleoptera contains more species than any other order, constituting almost 25% of all known life-forms...

s of multiple genuses in the family Silphidae with whom they often have a symbiotic relationship in protecting the beetle's larva or its food supply from fly larva. Reportedly, some nematodes in the family Allantonematidae are parasites of mites in this genus.

Species

• Poecilochirus armatus (Trägårdh, 1912)
• Poecilochirus austroasiaticus
• Poecilochirus belkahvensis Ramaraju & Madanlar, 1998
• Poecilochirus belovae (Davydova, 1975)
• Poecilochirus britannicus Hyatt, 1986
• Poecilochirus carabi G. Canestrini & R. Canestrini, 1882
• Poecilochirus coimbatorensis Vishnupriya & Mohanasundaram, 1988
• Poecilochirus coleophorae Ramaraju & Mohanasundaram, 1997
• Poecilochirus davydovae Hyatt, 1980
• Poecilochirus donatus Vinnik, 1993
• Poecilochirus hyatti Ramaraju & Madanlar, 1998
• Poecilochirus macgillavryi
• Poecilochirus monospinosus Wise, Hennessey & Axtell, 1988
• Poecilochirus mrciaki Masan, 1999
• Poecilochirus necrophori Vitzthum, 1930
• Poecilochirus pilosula (Banks, 1904)
• Poecilochirus rutellae Ramaraju & Mohanasundaram, 1997
• Poecilochirus serratae Chinniah & Mohanasundaram, 1999
• Poecilochirus sexclavatus Skljar, 2002
• Poecilochirus simplisetae Ramaraju & Madanlar, 1998
• Poecilochirus subterraneus (Muller, 1859)
• Poecilochirus torbaliensis Ramaraju & Madanlar, 1998