Poecilochirus

Poecilochirus is a Holarctic genus of mites in the family Parasitidae. They are relatively large (ca. 0.5-1mm) and often found on rotting corpses, where they are transported by beetles. Deuteronymphs are characterized by two orange dorsal shields and in many species a transverse band on the sternal shield. The juvenile development consists of a larval stage (three pairs of legs), protonymph, and deuteronymph, but no tritonymph. Females are smaller than males. Males guard female deuteronymphs shortly before these mate, and pairs mate venter-to-venter.

Reportedly, some nematodes in the family Allantonematidae are parasites of mites in this genus. Although some species from this genus have been described and sampled on previous real forensic cases or successional studies on carcasses, their usefulness as a forensic marker in forensic entomology has been recently appreciated.