| abstract | Species of the oribatid mite genus Tegeocranellus from North and Central America are discussed, and immatures are described for the first time. Six new species are described and keyed: Tegeocranellus alas from Costa Rica, T. barbarae from Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida, T. kethleyi from Alabama and Mississippi, T. mississippii from Louisiana and Texas, T. muscorum known from Ontario to Florida, and T. mediolamellatus from Guatemala. Descriptions of T. alas, T. barbarae, T. mediolamellatus, and T. muscorum are based on adults and immatures, and those of the other two species on adults only. I expand the generic diagnosis to include information on the apheredermous, plicate immatures, and present a character analysis hypothesizing that the monogeneric family Tegeocranellidae is a member of the Ameronothroidea, closely related to Selenoribatidae and Fortuyniidae. |