This edition remains primarily taxonomic in approach, but it also provides detailed information on subjects including phylogeny, biology, morphology, systematics, ecology, and behavior. The editors discuss collection and rearing techniques in detail, as well as specimen preparation and methods of preservation. Taxonomic diagnoses for the 124 presently recognized superfamilies of Acari are included in their appropriate systematic chapters, and feeding habits, host range, and distribution of member families and representative species are discussed under each superfamilial heading. The authors complement their text with keys to families (with the Ixodida keyed to genus), a bibliography comprising more than 4,000 entries, and a detailed index. More than 330 labeled line drawings and scanning electron micrographs illustrate the text.

Unlike previous editions, the third is the product of a team effort by ten authors whose contributions have been amalgamated into a seamless text. In addition to the editors, the contributors are V. M. Behan-Pelletier, D. R. Cook, M. S. Harvey, J. E. Keirans, E. E. Lindquist, R. A. Norton, B. M. OConnor, and I. M. Smith, all leading experts in areas of acarology.