Abstract
A new genus of Podapolipidae was found on the paropsine beetle Chrysophtharta agricola (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) in Tasmania. This genus represents an early-derivative radiation of Podapolipidae, and a collection of morphological pleisiomorphies and biological apomorphies link this genus with Chrysomelobia, which is the most primitive genus of Podapolipidae. Mites occur on mated adult beetles only, showing that their primary means of dispersal is during copulation. Field data and laboratory mating of mite-infested females with virgin males indicated that the dispersing life stage is the adult female mite. All life stages occur on overwintering beetles. Incidence of mites on beetles began each season at about 1 - 10 %, but gradually increased to 80 - 100 % by late summer. Overlap of adult generations at this time (i.e., old-generation adults mating with newly emerged adults) is essential for the persistence of these mites. More female beetles were infested with mites than male beetles. Mites exhibited temporal changes in their spatial distribution on beetles: most mites occurred on the beetle's tergites during overwintering, but moved to the anterior elytra during spring-summer, and also to a space beneath the mesepisternum in late summer.