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Family PhalangiidaeThe family Phalangiidae is well represented incaves throughout Mexico, but only three species haveyet been identified. Ceaya yucatana Goodnight andGoodnight is known from caves in Campeche andQuintana Roo and will probably be eventually recordedfrom many caves in the Yucatan Peninsula.Leiobunum metallicum Roewer has been found incaves in Queretaro and San Luis Potosi. Leiobunumviridorsum Goodnight and Goodnight is known froma single cave in San Luis Potosi. Leiobunum townsendiWeed is the common trogloxenic harvestmenin the caves of Central Texas and doubtless will beidentified from many caves in northern Mexico.Order PalpigradidaThe order Palpigradida is widespread in NorthAmerica, but it is seldom collected because of its minutesize and secretive habits. It is known to rangenorth from southern i\:lexico into California andTexas. The only known Mexican species, Koeneniahanseni Silvestri, has been reported by Remy (1948)from surface localities in Guerrero, Jalisco, NuevoLeon, Puebla, Quintana Roo, San Luis Potosi, Tabasco,Tamaulipas, Veracruz, and Yucatan. It hasbeen taken in abundance in detritus in darkness inSotano de la Tinaja, San Luis PotosI. Remy (1948)reported Koenenia sp. from Cuevas de Bellamar,Cuba.Order SolpugidaA single unidentified specimen of solpugid hasbeen collected from below the upper entrance toCueva del Abra, Tamaulipas. It doubtless fell into theentrance and should not be considered a part of thetrue cave fauna. No species of solpugid is known tobe associated with caves.Order AcarinaThe order Acarina is the most commonly encounteredgroup of arachnids in the caves of Mexico;it is also the least studied. The accompanying list offamilies (see Table 17) includes a minimum of 83 species,but many of these represent only family identifications.Other species included in this list are aquaticmites taken from open-air cenotes in Yucatan.The only part of Mexico which has seen any systematicstudy of its mite fauna is the state of Yucatan.Wharton (1938) studied several species of interestfrom the caves of that state.It is impossible here to go into detail on theknown mite fauna of Mexico, but a few families ofinterest are discussed below.Table 17.-Summary of cave inhabiting Acarina.TroglobitesOther SpeciesMesostigmataAscidae 0 1Heterozerconidae 0 2Laelapidae 0 1Macrochelidae 0 1Paramegistidae 0 1Parasitidae 0 1Polyaspidae 0 1Prodinychidae 0 1Spelaeorhynchidae 0 1Spintumicidae 0 3Trachytidae 0 1Trematurellidae 0 1Uropodidae 0 1MetastigmataArgasidae 0 12Ixodidae 0 3ProstigmataArrenuridae 0 1Cheyletidae 0 2Cunaxidae 0 1Ereynetidae 0 1Erythraeidae 0 1Hydrachnidae 0 1Hydrodromidae 0 1Limnesiidae 0 1Mideopsidae 0 1Myobiidae 0 1Pionidae 0 1Pterygosomidae 0 1Rhagidiidae 2 1Smaridiidae 0 1Trombiculidae 0 14Trombidiidae 0 3Unionicolidae 0 1AstigmataAcaridae 0 4Anoetidae 0 1Glycyphagidae 0 1Rosensteiniidae 0 1CryptostigmataAchipteriidae 0 1Belbidae 0 1Carabodidae 0 1Eremaeidae 0 1Galumnidae 0 1Hermanniidae 0 1Hypochthoniidae 0 1Oribatellidae 0 1Oribatulidae 0 1Phthiracaridae 0 1Total 2 81Suborder MesostigmataFamily AscidaeThe only species of ascid mite reported from cavesIn Mexico is an undetermined member of the genusMelichares, taken in Hoyo de Don Nicho, Chiapas. Itwas found in stream detritus.167